DESTROY


Meaning of DESTROY in English

də̇ˈstrȯi, dēˈ- verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English destroyen, destruyen, from Old French destruire, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin destrugere, alteration (influenced by Latin destructus, past participle of destruere ) of Latin destruere to tear down, destroy, from de- + struere to pile up, build; akin to Latin sternere to spread out, scatter — more at strew

transitive verb

1. : to ruin the structure, organic existence, or condition of: as

a. : to pull or tear down : raze , demolish

destroyed the altars of the gods

b. obsolete : to lay waste : desolate

c. : to ruin completely or injure or mutilate beyond possibility of use (as by tearing, breaking, burning, or erosion)

priceless art destroyed by fire

water may undermine and destroy the riverbank

d. : to ruin as if by ripping to shreds

destroyed a goodly number of existing reputations — H.J.Laski

e. : to deprive of position, prestige, and reputation and of the power to oppose or offer resistance : reduce to political, financial, or professional impotence or ruin : defeat and discredit fully

an author can weather the most damning criticisms but he is destroyed when he is ignored completely — Bennett Cerf

2. : to bring to naught by putting out of existence:

a. : to take the life of : put to death : kill

the plague destroyed men by the thousands

b. : to cause to vanish : abolish

destroy one's love

c. : counteract , nullify , neutralize

the moon destroys the light of the stars

d. : to subject to a crushing defeat : wipe out : annihilate

building a war machine capable of destroying the enemy

3. Irish : distress , depress , plague

and you destroyed with the grief has come on you — Mary Deasy

intransitive verb

1. : to have the effect of destroying something or someone

it is proverbially easier to destroy than to construct — T.S.Eliot

2. : to become destroyed

wear nothing that destroys easily

Synonyms:

demolish , raze , ruin , undo , wreck , wrack , dilapidate : destroy implies any force that smashes, tears down or apart, kills, or annihilates

destroy a house

destroy a document by burning it

destroy a friendship by deceit

destroy a bridge by blowing it up

destroy a mood

demolish implies more a pulling or smashing to pieces; in its frequent application to the smashing or tearing down of buildings or other structures it implies complete wreckage to the point of a heap of ruins

a building demolished by a bomb

a car demolished by a train at a railroad crossing

raze implies a leveling whether by sudden destruction or an orderly process

the governor formulated a plan to raze the old State prison and transfer the inmates to other institutions — Current Biography

in 1865 a Gulf hurricane razed the town — American Guide Series: Texas

the hotel was razed, and its colonial pillars were sent to Grand Rapids — American Guide Series: Michigan

ruin usually suggests a usually total bringing to an end of the wholeness, value, beauty, well-being, or opportunities of someone or something as by fire, collision, or misuse, or by the loss of something essential to happiness or success

ruin a car by neglect

beauty ruined by dissipation

big planters ruined by the failure of the Bank of Tallahassee — Marjory S. Douglas

it is he who decides how loud or soft the music will be at any given moment, and therefore it is he who can make or ruin everything by the merest touch of the dials — Aaron Copland

because of the destruction of the plantation system the Civil War ruined the town — American Guide Series: Texas

undo , in this comparison, is a more neutral synonym for ruin

an inordinate impulsion to undo his rivals — H.O.Taylor

the cost of reequipping his many theaters proved one of the causes of his financial undoing — Americana Annual

the battle left him untouched; it was the peace that undid him — Virginia Woolf

to undo a lifetime of effort

wreck suggests a ruining as by a crash or by being shattered; in figurative use, it implies an injuring past all hope of repair or reconstruction

the collision wrecked the car beyond repair

she … wrecked several saloons with stones and iron bars — C.M.Thomas

warned that if private educational institutions were wrecked it would be a disaster to the country — A.J.Schaefer

attempting to degrade and wreck the classical concept of the genus — W.H.Camp

wreck plans for a new school

wrack , now infrequent in this connection and even then archaic or largely in poetic use, suggests an overwhelming catastrophe or widespread ruin

the seas … wracking whole fleets in pride like river toys — F.T.Palgrave

a civilization wracked by its own evil ways

dilapidate , in earlier use implying ruin by wastefulness as well as neglect, now generally implies ruin, especially of a building, mainly through neglect, suggesting a run-down, tumbledown condition

they tax the country according to their pleasure, and dilapidate the estates of the King's friends — Sir Walter Scott

a dilapidated old shack of a house

its cities were dilapidated, its public buildings run down and dirty — Carleton Beals

an old and dilapidated -looking car — Francis Stuart

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.