pulverize

American  

[puhl-vuh-rahyz] / ˈpʌl vəˌraɪz /

especially British, pulverise

verb (used with object)

pulverized, pulverizing

1. to reduce to dust or powder, as by pounding or grinding.

2. to demolish or crush completely.

3. Slang. to defeat, hurt badly, or, figuratively, render helpless.

   The Kid pulverized Jackson with a series of brutal lefts. He's a veteran nightclub comic who can pulverize any audience in seconds.

---

verb (used without object)

pulverized, pulverizing

1. to become reduced to dust.

pulverize British  

/ ˈpʌlvəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to reduce (a substance) to fine particles, as by crushing or grinding, or (of a substance) to be so reduced

2. (tr) to destroy completely; defeat or injure seriously

---

Other Word Forms

• pulverizable adjective
• pulverization noun
• pulverizer noun
• subpulverizer noun
• unpulverized adjective

Etymology

Origin of pulverize

1575–85; < Late Latin pulverizāre to reduce to powder, equivalent to Latin pulver- (stem of pulvis; akin to pollen ) dust + -izāre -ize

Explanation

When you pulverize something, you break it up until it becomes dust or powder. You might pulverize coffee beans in a grinder, running it until the coffee turns to powder. Pulvis is the Latin word for "dust." When something is turned into dust, often it becomes useless. That's why pulverize can also mean "to destroy or demolish." Construction crews pulverize a building using wrecking balls and sometimes even explosives. The materials left behind are broken into such small parts that they can't be salvaged for other uses.

Example Sentences

Norman’s ability to pulverize the ball off the tee led him to British Open victories in 1986 and 1993, though his near misses were just as memorable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

The site, south of Rogers’ polo field, also was used to pulverize concrete removed from burned properties.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025

Do not pulverize in a machine, just chop fine, then mix with crumbs and coconut in a bowl and set aside.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2024

"Because there is more comet dust closer to the Sun, we had expected collisions there would pulverize the pebbles that much faster," says Jenniskens.

From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024

I thought she was going to pulverize Travis, but she said in a shaky voice: “You don’t understand anything, punk. I’m never going in there again. Never!”

From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• annihilate
• decimate
• demolish
• flatten
• shatter
• vanquish
• vaporize