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Showing results for lay waste. Search instead for lay waste to.
Synonyms

lay waste

Idioms  
  1. 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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The trebuchet was the most fearsome weapon of medieval times, a giant catapult that could lay waste to any fortress by battering its walls with boulders.

From Slate Jul. 7, 2025

All that can contaminate water and soil, not to mention lay waste to large tracts of land.

From Science Magazine Nov. 1, 2022

So they're happy to do their part to lay waste to the idea that truth has any value at all.

From Salon Apr. 27, 2022

At the end of Reeves’ film, Paul Dano’s Riddler, his vengeful plot to lay waste to Gotham foiled, or at least mitigated, by Batman, is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 4, 2022

That fascination has infested me today like the wood-eating bugs that slowly lay waste to our house.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

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