pulverize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to reduce to dust or powder, as by pounding or grinding.
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to demolish or crush completely.
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Slang. to defeat, hurt badly, or, figuratively, render helpless.
The Kid pulverized Jackson with a series of brutal lefts. He's a veteran nightclub comic who can pulverize any audience in seconds.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to reduce (a substance) to fine particles, as by crushing or grinding, or (of a substance) to be so reduced
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(tr) to destroy completely; defeat or injure seriously
Other Word Forms
- pulverizable adjective
- pulverization noun
- pulverizer noun
- subpulverizer noun
- unpulverized adjective
Etymology
Origin of pulverize
1575–85; < Late Latin pulverizāre to reduce to powder, equivalent to Latin pulver- (stem of pulvis; akin to pollen ) dust + -izāre -ize
Explanation
When you pulverize something, you break it up until it becomes dust or powder. You might pulverize coffee beans in a grinder, running it until the coffee turns to powder. Pulvis is the Latin word for "dust." When something is turned into dust, often it becomes useless. That's why pulverize can also mean "to destroy or demolish." Construction crews pulverize a building using wrecking balls and sometimes even explosives. The materials left behind are broken into such small parts that they can't be salvaged for other uses.
Vocabulary lists containing pulverize
The Lightning Thief
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List 2
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Hatchet
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Back when McIlroy first rose to stardom, he turned heads with his ability to pulverize the ball.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
The site also is being used to pulverize concrete removed from burned properties, according to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2025
"Because there is more comet dust closer to the Sun, we had expected collisions there would pulverize the pebbles that much faster," says Jenniskens.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024
As another wave of conference realignment threatens to pulverize the Pac-12’s remaining parts, Washington completed its first preseason practice Wednesday at Husky Stadium.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2023
I knew she must’ve had a difficult quest, because she didn’t even try to pulverize me.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
