a situation in which a plant, an animal, a way of life, etc. stops existing (植物、动物、生活方式等的)灭绝,绝种,消亡 a tribe threatened with extinction/in danger of extinction 面临消亡威胁/有消亡危险的部落 The island's way of life is doomed to extinction. 这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。 The mountain gorilla is on the verge of extinction. 山地大猩猩已濒临灭绝。 We know of several mass extinctions in the earth's history. 我们知道地球历史上出现过几次大规模的灭绝。 a campaign to save wild koalas from extinction 拯救野生考拉免于灭绝的运动 Will technology in music drive creativity to extinction? 音乐中的科技会不会把创造力逼到绝路? The dormouse in Britain may face extinction if ancient woodland continues to disappear. 如果古老的林地继续消失,英国的睡鼠可能会面临灭绝。 A comet colliding with the earth may have caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. 一颗彗星与地球相撞可能导致了恐龙的大规模灭绝。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- global
- mass
- total
- …
- cause
- lead to
- be doomed to
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin exstinctio(n-), from exstinguere ‘quench’, from ex- ‘out’ + stinguere ‘quench’.