lay waste


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.

Words Nearby lay waste

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use lay waste in a sentence

  • Bothvar said, "This hall is not so well arrayed as I thought, if one beast can lay waste the kingdom and the cattle of the king."

    Beowulf | R. W. Chambers
  • Sometimes they congregate in swarms, like locusts, and migrate from one locality to another, when they lay waste everything.

    The Insect World | Louis Figuier