destroy

[ dih-stroi ]

/ dɪˈstrɔɪ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: destroy / destroyed / destroying / destroys on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.

to put an end to; extinguish.

to kill; slay.

to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.

to defeat completely.

verb (used without object)

to engage in destruction.

OTHER WORDS FOR destroy

1 smash, level, waste, ravage, devastate.

2 extirpate, annihilate, uproot.

See synonyms for destroy on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR destroy

1, 2 create.

See antonyms for destroy on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of destroy

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin dēstrūgere (unattested), for Latin dēstruere (dē- de- + struere “to pick up, build”)

synonym study for destroy

1. Destroy, demolish, raze imply reducing a thing to uselessness. To destroy is to reduce something to nothingness or to take away its powers and functions so that restoration is impossible: Fire destroys a building. Disease destroys tissues. To demolish is to destroy something organized or structured: to demolish a machine. To raze is to level down to the ground: to raze a fortress.

historical usage of destroy

See decimate.

OTHER WORDS FROM destroy

de·stroy·a·ble, adjectivehalf-de·stroyed, adjectivepre·de·stroy, verb (used with object)self-de·stroyed, adjective

self-de·stroy·ing, adjectiveun·de·stroyed, adjectivewell-de·stroyed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH destroy

decimate, destroy (see word story at decimate)

Words nearby destroy

destitution, destock, destool, de-stress, destrier, destroy, destroyer, destroyer escort, destroying angel, destruct, destructible

How to use destroy in a sentence

The nova does not destroy the star, unlike a supernova, which marks a star’s death.
The number of Milky Way nova explosions per year has been pinned down|Ken Croswell|February 12, 2021|Science News
In addition to leveling forests for crops, the Spanish plantation system also began to destroy biodiversity with imported cattle and replace mountains with mines.
The problem of environmental racism in Mexico today is rooted in history|Jayson Porter|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
The eventual goal is to be able to 3D print bones directly into the cavity of a patient, for scenarios in which a certain portion of bone has been removed or destroyed.
This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through February 6)|Singularity Hub Staff|February 6, 2021|Singularity Hub
He wants them destroyed lest some accident or malicious act unleash smallpox on the world again.
Smallpox used to kill millions of people every year. Here’s how humans beat it.|Kelsey Piper|February 5, 2021|Vox

It’s marketing’s mass conservation, with nothing created and nothing destroyed.
Celebrities have always done endorsements. Now they sell their fast food orders.|Jameson Rich|February 5, 2021|Vox
But at the heart of this “Truther” conspiracy theory is the idea that “someone” wants to destroy Bill Cosby.
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“The United States had gone to war declaring it must destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program,” the Times reported.
Political Memes That Absolutely Must Die in 2015|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Would he have been careful enough to destroy the odd pieces of jute you've left so messily about?
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anything less will mean than we are only slightly better as a nation than those who want to destroy us.
Why the Muslim World Isn’t Flipping Out Over the CIA Torture Report|Dean Obeidallah|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead we must show that America “is different, stronger, and better than those who would destroy us.”
Why the Muslim World Isn’t Flipping Out Over the CIA Torture Report|Dean Obeidallah|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
The cheerful hours of easy labor vary but do not destroy the pursuit of pleasure and of recreation.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
They destroy ants and spiders and other creeping things, so that Alila's mother never kills them nor drives them away.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade
Thy builders are come: they that destroy thee and make thee waste shall go out of thee.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Yet the Clarion opposes sweating and tyranny and hypocrisy, and does its best to defeat and to destroy them.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford

British Dictionary definitions for destroy

destroy

/ (dɪˈstrɔɪ) /

verb (mainly tr)

to ruin; spoil; render useless

to tear down or demolish; break up; raze

to put an end to; do away with; extinguish

to kill or annihilate

to crush, subdue, or defeat

(intr) to be destructive or cause destruction

Derived forms of destroy

destroyable, adjective

Word Origin for destroy

C13: from Old French destruire, from Latin dēstruere to pull down, from de- + struere to pile up, build

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

destroy

OTHER WORDS FOR destroy

OPPOSITES FOR destroy

Origin of destroy

synonym study for destroy

historical usage of destroy

OTHER WORDS FROM destroy

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH destroy

Words nearby destroy

Words related to destroy

How to use destroy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for destroy

Derived forms of destroy

Word Origin for destroy