to expose to smoke or fumes, as in disinfecting or exterminating roaches, ants, etc.
Origin
1520-30; < Latinfūmigātus, past participle of fūmigāre to smoke, fumigate, equivalent to fūm(us) smoke + -igāre (v. suffix based on -ig-, noun derivative of agere to drive, do, as in remex, stem remig- oarsman, hence remigāre to row)
Related forms
fumigation, noun
fumigatory
[fyoo-mi-guh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, -gey-tuh-ree] /ˈfyu mɪ gəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, -ˌgeɪ tə ri/ (Show IPA), adjective
subfumigation, noun
unfumigated, adjective
Examples from the web for fumigate
Now only few hands are needed and a farmer can even sit inside and press a button to irrigate or fumigate an entire field.
However, if you must fumigate on a porous surface, cover the surface with plastic tarpaulins.
They are used to fumigate burrows of certain rodents and other mammals.
Potential field sites should be scouted to determine if they will be suitable to fumigate legally.
British Dictionary definitions for fumigate
fumigate
/ˈfjuːmɪˌɡeɪt/
verb
1.
to treat (something contaminated or infected) with fumes or smoke
Derived Forms
fumigation, noun fumigator, noun
Word Origin
C16: from Latin fūmigāre to smoke, steam, from fūmus smoke + agere to drive, produce
Word Origin and History for fumigate
v.
1520s, back-formation from fumigation. Related: Fumigated; fumigating.
fumigate in Medicine
fumigate fu·mi·gate (fyōō'mĭ-gāt') v.fu·mi·gat·ed, fu·mi·gat·ing, fu·mi·gates To subject to smoke or fumes, usually in order to exterminate pests or disinfect.