tear down

British  

/ tɛə /

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to destroy or demolish

   to tear a wall down

   to tear down an argument

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tear down Idioms  

1. Demolish, take apart, as in They tore down the old tenements , or He loved to tear down old engines . [Early 1600s]

2. Vilify or discredit, as in He's always tearing down someone or other . [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

They own the property next door and hoped to tear down Monroe’s place to expand their estate.

From Los Angeles Times

Last Saturday, two people were arrested at a protest outside the embassy where a protester also climbed onto the building's balcony and appeared to tear down the Iranian flag.

From BBC

Footage on Saturday showed a man standing on the London embassy's balcony and tearing down the Iranian flag.

From BBC

Grimes’ team added a front porch to the house’s facade, also tearing down interior walls to allow director of photography Seamus McGarvey to easily film inside.

From Los Angeles Times

In a perfect world, we’d tear down the maze we’ve added to for a century and replace it with a central clearinghouse for short-term government support, able to interact efficiently with states.

From The Wall Street Journal