lay waste

Idioms and Phrases

Ravage, ruin, as in The hurricane laid waste the entire seashore . Originally referring to the devastation caused by attackers, this term has come to be used more generally.

Example Sentences

This weekend, you can see Sly lay waste to hundreds of fools in The Expendables 3.

From The Daily Beast

Haste, and the taste of impending political doom lay waste to the truth.

From The Daily Beast

They declared that they would lay waste all the settlements on the Connecticut,—meaning, it seems, to begin with Hatfield.

From Project Gutenberg

The Master said, To tell unto the dust all that we hear upon the way is to lay waste the mind.

From Project Gutenberg

In consequence of these, and other ravages at a later period, the whole region lay waste for a long season.

From Project Gutenberg

Bothvar said, "This hall is not so well arrayed as I thought, if one beast can lay waste the kingdom and the cattle of the king."

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes they congregate in swarms, like locusts, and migrate from one locality to another, when they lay waste everything.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• consume
• crush
• damage
• dismantle
• end
• eradicate
• gut
• impair
• kill
• maim
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• smash
• smash-up
• wipe out
• wreck