<B>extenuate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make the seriousness of (guilt, a fault, or an offense) seem less; excuse in part. <BR> <I>Ex. The hunger of his children extenuated his crime of stealing a loaf of bread. His foreign upbringing extenuates his faulty pronunciation.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make thin or weak; diminish. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) <DD><B> a. </B>to diminish in size, number, or amount. <DD><B> b. </B>to lessen in degree. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) to diminish in honor. <BR> <I>Ex. Righteous are they decrees on all thy works: Who can extenuate thee? (Milton).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="extenuatingcircumstances">
<B>extenuating circumstances,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> circumstances that tend to diminish culpability. <BR> <I>Ex. The young criminal's unsatisfactory home conditions were regarded by the judge as extenuating circumstances.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="extenuatingly">
<B>extenuatingly, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in an extenuating manner; by way of extenuation. </DL>
<A NAME="extenuation">
<B>extenuation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of extenuating. <BR> <I>Ex. The lawyer pleaded his client's youth in extenuation of the crime.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>extenuated condition. <DD><B> 3. </B>something that lessens the seriousness of guilt, a fault, or an offense; a partial excuse. </DL>
<A NAME="extenuative">
<B>extenuative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with or like extenuation. <DD><B> 2. </B>tending to extenuate; extenuating. </DL>
<A NAME="extenuator">
<B>extenuator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who extenuates. </DL>
<A NAME="extenuatory">
<B>extenuatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that extenuates. </DL>
<A NAME="exterior">
<B>exterior, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an outer surface or part; outward appearance; outside. <BR> <I>Ex. I saw only the exterior of the house, not the interior. The exterior of the house was made of brick. (Figurative.) The gruff old man has a harsh exterior but a kind heart.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>an outdoor scene on the stage. <DD><B> b. </B>a motion picture made outdoors. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>on the outside; outer. <BR> <I>Ex. The skin of an apple is its exterior covering.</I> (SYN) outward, external. <DD><B> 2. </B>coming from without; happening outside. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) exterior influences.</I> (SYN) extrinsic. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) foreign. adv. <B>exteriorly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="exteriorangle">
<B>exterior angle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of the four angles formed outside of two parallel lines intersected by a straight line. <DD><B> 2. </B>an angle formed by a side of a closed polygon and the extension of an adjacent side. </DL>
<B>exteriority, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state or fact of being exterior. <DD><B> 2. </B>something exterior. <DD><B> 3. </B>an outward circumstance. </DL>
<A NAME="exteriorization">
<B>exteriorization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process of making exterior or external. </DL>
<A NAME="exteriorize">
<B>exteriorize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to make exterior. <BR> <I>Ex. The war dances, chants and witch doctors of primitive societies may all serve a useful purpose in exteriorizing stress--getting rid of it (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to externalize (a conception). </DL>
<A NAME="exterminate">
<B>exterminate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-nated,</B> <B>-nating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to destroy completely. <BR> <I>Ex. This poison will exterminate rats.</I> (SYN) extirpate, eradicate, annihilate. </DL>
<A NAME="extermination">
<B>extermination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> complete destruction. <BR> <I>Ex. Poison and traps are useful for the extermination of rats.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="exterminationcamp">
<B>extermination camp,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a concentration camp, especially one established by the Nazis in various European countries for the mass destruction of prisoners in gas chambers and crematories; death camp. </DL>
<A NAME="exterminative">
<B>exterminative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> tending to exterminate. </DL>
<A NAME="exterminator">
<B>exterminator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that exterminates. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person whose business is exterminating fleas, cockroaches, lice, bedbugs, rats, and other pests. </DL>
<A NAME="exterminatory">
<B>exterminatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> serving or tending to exterminate. </DL>
<A NAME="extermine">
<B>extermine, </B>transitive verb, <B>-mined,</B> <B>-mining.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) to exterminate. </DL>
<A NAME="extern">
<B>extern, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person connected with a hospital or other institution, but not residing in it. Also, <B>externe.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> (Poetic.) outside; outward; external. </DL>
<A NAME="external">
<B>external, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>on the outside; outer. <BR> <I>Ex. An ear of corn has an external husk.</I> (SYN) outward, exterior. <DD><B> 2. </B>entirely outside; coming from without. <BR> <I>Ex. the external air.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to be used only on the outside of the body. <BR> <I>Ex. Liniment and rubbing alcohol are external remedies.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>having existence outside one's mind. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) easily seen but not essential; superficial. <BR> <I>Ex. Going to church is an external act of worship. His art criticism had external brilliance but no substance.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>having to do with international affairs; foreign. <BR> <I>Ex. War affects a nation's external trade.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Zoology, Anatomy.) situated toward or on the outer surface; remote from the median line or center. <DD><B> 8. </B>(British.) (of a student) having studied elsewhere than in the university where he is examined. <BR> <I>Ex. Once a year he returned to London to sit for his exams as an external student after pirating the appropriate learning from half a dozen different universities (Manchester Guardian).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an outer surface or part; outside. <BR><I>expr. <B>externals,</B> </I>clothing, manners, or other outward acts or appearances. <BR> <I>Ex. He judges people by mere externals rather than by their character.</I> adv. <B>externally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="externalcombustionengine">
<B>external-combustion engine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an engine in which the pressure is produced by fuel ignited outside the cylinder, as a steam engine. </DL>
<A NAME="externalear">
<B>external ear,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the outer part of the ear, including the passage leading to the middle ear; auricle and meatus; outer ear. </DL>
<A NAME="externalfertilization">
<B>external fertilization,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the fertilization of an egg, especially a human ovum, outside the body, usually by the introduction of sperm into an egg cell surgically removed from an ovary. <BR> <I>Ex. The so-called test-tube babies were of course not monsters but simply ordinary babies produced by external fertilization (John Newell). Some clergymen saw no ethical problems in external fertilization: others called it interference with nature (Albin Krebs).</I> </DL>
<B>externalism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>excessive regard for externals, especially in religion. <DD><B> 2. </B>the doctrine that only things observable by the senses have reality. </DL>
<A NAME="externalist">
<B>externalist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who has undue regard for externals. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who believes in externalism. <DD><B> 3. </B>a student of the history of science and the social effects of science. </DL>
<A NAME="externalistic">
<B>externalistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with externalism; regarding what is merely external and not essential. </DL>
<A NAME="externality">
<B>externality, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality or condition of being external. <DD><B> 2. </B>an external thing. </DL>
<A NAME="externalization">
<B>externalization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or process of externalizing. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fact or condition of being externalized. </DL>
<A NAME="externalize">
<B>externalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make external; embody in an outward form. </DL>
<A NAME="externalrespiration">
<B>external respiration,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the environment and the respiratory organs; breathing. </DL>
<A NAME="externals">
<B>externals, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See <B>external.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="externalscrew">
<B>external screw,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cylindrical metal pin with a thread winding around the outside; male screw. </DL>
<A NAME="externalsenses">
<B>external senses,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the senses that are stimulated by things outside the body, such as the senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch; the exteroceptive senses. </DL>
<A NAME="externalworld">
<B>external world,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Philosophy.) everything that exists outside the conscious mind; the world of external objects. </DL>
<A NAME="externe">
<B>externe, </B>noun. <B>=extern.</B></DL>
<A NAME="externization">
<B>externization, </B>noun. <B>=externalization.</B> <I>Ex. The Universe is the externization of the soul (Emerson).</I> </DL>
<B>externomedian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Zoology.) exterior to the central line. </DL>
<A NAME="exteroceptive">
<B>exteroceptive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or aroused by stimuli from outside the body. <BR> <I>Ex. Vision is an exteroceptive sense.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="exteroceptor">
<B>exteroceptor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a sense organ stimulated from outside the body, such as the eye or ear. </DL>
