destroy
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
- Antonyms:
- create
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to put an end to; extinguish.
- Synonyms:
- uproot, annihilate, extirpate
- Antonyms:
- create
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to kill; slay.
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to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.
-
to defeat completely.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to ruin; spoil; render useless
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to tear down or demolish; break up; raze
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to put an end to; do away with; extinguish
-
to kill or annihilate
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to crush, subdue, or defeat
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(intr) to be destructive or cause destruction
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- destroyable adjective
- half-destroyed adjective
- predestroy verb (used with object)
- self-destroyed adjective
- self-destroying adjective
- undestroyed adjective
- well-destroyed adjective
Etymology
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”)
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.
But the staggering descriptions of Old World forests and the incredible human effort required to destroy them linger long after the saga concludes.
From Los Angeles Times
Many of Ukraine’s hydroelectric and thermal plants have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Ministry of Energy.
The economist Joel Waldfogel gave Grinches everywhere their favorite Christmas citation by documenting what many people quietly suspect: Gifts destroy value.
During the avian flu outbreak, millions of hens were destroyed across the country.
From MarketWatch
We hear constantly that social media is destroying mental health and that screen time is eroding well-being.
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.
