Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb euphemistic, US To
murder ; toassassinate .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
1960s, US military intelligence and CIA, used publicly in 1969, in news coverage of Green Beret Case, further popularized in 1979 movie Apocalypse Now. Play on the term “terminate with prejudice” when an employee’s employment is terminated, meaning “will not rehire employee to same position in future” (i.e., prejudiced against rehiring), hence “terminate definitively, i.e., kill”.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word terminate with extreme prejudice.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
thebighenry commented on the word terminate with extreme prejudice
The extraction "extreme prejudice" is popularly thought to have originated in military circles and to mean a "take no prisoners" or "show no mercy" attitude by military forces.
June 11, 2008