destroyer

[dih-stroi-er]

noun

1. a person or thing that destroys.

2. a fast, relatively small, warship armed mainly with 5-inch (13-centimeter) guns.

destroyer

/ dɪˈstrɔɪə /

noun

1. a small fast lightly armoured but heavily armed warship

2. a person or thing that destroys

Other Word Forms

• self-destroyer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of destroyer¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English destroiere (compare Old French destruiere ); destroy, -er ¹

Example Sentences

The three destroyers can carry as many as 300 troops each.

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At least one of the three guided-missile destroyers there now has recently been in the Middle East, where it was engaged in fighting Yemen’s Houthis.

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Beijing, in turn, has repeatedly criticised him, calling him a "destroyer of cross-straits peace".

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Venezuela responded by flying two F-16 fighter jets over a US Navy destroyer two days later.

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To do so, they used two isolated incidents of North Vietnamese patrol boats attacking a naval destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin.

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Related Words

• battleship 
• ship 
• warship