de ‧ mol ‧ ish /dɪˈmɒlɪʃ $ dɪˈmɑː-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: demolir , from Latin moliri 'to build' ]
1 . to completely destroy a building:
The entire east wing of the building was demolished in the fire.
2 . to prove that an idea or opinion is completely wrong:
He demolished my argument in minutes.
3 . to end or ruin something completely:
These ants can demolish large areas of forest.
4 . to defeat someone very easily:
Miami demolished Texas 46–3.
5 . especially British English informal to eat all of something very quickly:
He demolished a second helping of pie.
—demolition /ˌdeməˈlɪʃ ə n/ noun [uncountable and countable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ destroy to damage something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be used or repaired:
The earthquake almost completely destroyed the city.
|
The twin towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack.
▪ devastate to damage a large area very badly and destroy many things in it:
Allied bombings in 1943 devastated the city.
|
The country’s economy has been devastated by years of fighting.
▪ demolish to completely destroy a building, either deliberately or by accident:
The original 15th century house was demolished in Victorian times.
|
The plane crashed into a suburb of Paris, demolishing several buildings.
▪ flatten to destroy a building or town by knocking it down, bombing it etc, so that nothing is left standing:
The town centre was flattened by a 500 lb bomb.
▪ wreck to deliberately damage something very badly, especially a room or building:
The toilets had been wrecked by vandals.
|
They just wrecked the place.
▪ trash informal to deliberately destroy a lot of the things in a room, house etc:
Apparently, he trashed his hotel room while on drugs.
▪ obliterate formal to destroy a place so completely that nothing remains:
The nuclear blast obliterated most of Hiroshima.
▪ reduce something to ruins/rubble/ashes to destroy a building or town completely:
The town was reduced to rubble in the First World War.
▪ ruin to spoil something completely, so that it cannot be used or enjoyed:
Fungus may ruin the crop.
|
The new houses will ruin the view.