noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ complete , total , utter , wholesale
▪ large-scale , mass , massive , widespread
▪
modern weapons of mass ~
▪ rapid
▪ imminent
▪ final , ultimate
▪ systematic
▪ wanton
▪
the wanton ~ of public property
▪ ecological , environmental , forest , habitat , ozone
▪
the environmental ~ caused by road building
▪ property
▪
The earthquake caused loss of life and property ~.
▪ nuclear
▪
the threat of nuclear ~ which haunts the post-war world
▪ physical
▪ deliberate , intentional
▪ mutual
▪
a war of mutual ~
VERB + DESTRUCTION
▪ bring (about) , cause , lead to , result in , wreak ( formal )
▪
the ~ brought about by war
▪
He gasped as he saw how much ~ she had wrought with the hammer.
▪ avoid , prevent , stop
▪
Some shopkeepers closed early to prevent the wholesale ~ of their property by the hooligans.
▪ escape , survive
▪
Three of the paintings escaped ~.
▪
He had miraculously survived the ~ of the spacecraft.
▪ see , watch , witness
▪
He witnessed the ~ of most of his work in a studio fire.
▪ seek
▪
those who seek the ~ of our way of life
PHRASES
▪ leave a trail of ~
▪
The tornado left a trail of ~ behind it.
▪ the seeds of ~
▪
By doubling its prices, the industry sowed the seeds of its own ~.
▪ test sth to ~ ( BrE )
▪
Children will quickly test their toys to ~.