(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
To ~ something means to severely harm, damage, or spoil it.
My wife was ~ing her health through worry...
VERB: V n
2.
To ~ someone means to cause them to no longer have any money.
She accused him of ~ing her financially with his taste for the high life.
VERB: V n
3.
Ruin is the state of no longer having any money.
The farmers say recent inflation has driven them to the brink of ~.
N-UNCOUNT
4.
Ruin is the state of being severely damaged or spoiled, or the process of reaching this state.
The vineyards were falling into ~...
N-UNCOUNT
5.
The ~s of something are the parts of it that remain after it has been severely damaged or weakened.
The new Turkish republic he helped to build emerged from the ~s of a great empire...
N-PLURAL: the N of n
6.
The ~s of a building are the parts of it that remain after the rest has fallen down or been destroyed.
One dead child was found in the ~s almost two hours after the explosion...
N-COUNT: usu pl
7.
see also ~ed
8.
If something is in ~s, it is completely spoiled.
Its heavily-subsidized economy is in ~s...
PHRASE: oft v-link PHR
9.
If a building or place is in ~s, most of it has been destroyed and only parts of it remain.
The abbey was in ~s...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR