Adjacent Words

Destroy definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESTROY, v.t. [L. To pile, to build.]
1. To demolish; to pull down; to separate the parts of an edifice, the union of which is necessary to constitute the thing; as, to destroy a house or temple; to destroy a fortification.
2. To ruin; to annihilate a thing by demolishing or by burning; as, to destroy a city.
3. To ruin; to bring to naught; to annihilate; as, to destroy a theory or scheme; to destroy a government; to destroy influence.
4. To lay waste; to make desolate.
Go up against this land, and destroy it. Isaiah 36.
5. To kill; to slay; to extirpate; applied to men or other animals.
Ye shall destroy all this people. Numbers 32.
All the wicked will he destroy. Psalms 145.
6. To take away; to cause to cease; to put an end to; as, pain destroys happiness.
That the body of sin might be destroyed. Romans 6.
7. To kill; to eat; to devour; to consume. Birds destroy insects. Hawks destroy chickens.
8. In general, to put an end to; to annihilate a thing or the form in which it exists. An army is destroyed by slaughter, capture or dispersion; a forest, by the ax, or by fire; towns, by fire or inundation, etc.
9. In chimistry, to resolve a body into its parts or elements.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of; "The fire destroyed the house" [syn: destroy, destruct]
2: destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up" [syn: destroy, ruin]
3: defeat soundly; "The home team demolished the visitors" [syn: demolish, destroy]
4: put (an animal) to death; "The customs agents destroyed the dog that was found to be rabid"; "the sick cat had to be put down" [syn: destroy, put down]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French destroy-, destrui-, stem of destrure, from Vulgar Latin *destrugere, alteration of Latin destruere, from de- + struere to build — more at structure Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to ruin the structure, organic existence, or condition of <destroyed the files>; also to ruin as if by tearing to shreds <their reputation was destroyed> 2. a. to put out of existence ; kill <destroy an injured horse> b. neutralize <the moon destroys the light of the stars> c. annihilate, vanquish <armies had been crippled but not destroyed — W. L. Shirer> intransitive verb to cause destruction

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 pull or break down; demolish (destroyed the bridge). 2 end the existence of (the accident destroyed her confidence). 3 kill (esp. a sick or savage animal). 4 make useless; spoil utterly. 5 ruin financially, professionally, or in reputation. 6 defeat (destroyed the enemy). Etymology: ME f. OF destruire ult. f. L destruere (as DE-, struere struct- build)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Destroy De*stroy", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Destroyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Destroying.] [OE. destroien, destruien, destrien, OF. destruire, F. d['e]truire, fr. L. destruere, destructum; de + struere to pile up, build. See Structure.] 1. To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish. But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. --Ex. xxxiv. 13. 2. To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume. I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation. --Jer. xii. 17. 3. To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill. If him by force he can destroy, or, worse, By some false guile pervert. --Milton. Syn: To demolish; lay waste; consume; raze; dismantle; ruin; throw down; overthrow; subvert; desolate; devastate; deface; extirpate; extinguish; kill; slay. See Demolish.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(destroys, destroying, destroyed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. To destroy something means to cause so much damage to it that it is completely ruined or does not exist any more. That's a sure recipe for destroying the economy and creating chaos... VERB: V n 2. To destroy someone means to ruin their life or to make their situation impossible to bear. If I was younger or more naive, the criticism would have destroyed me. VERB: V n 3. If an animal is destroyed, it is killed, either because it is ill or because it is dangerous. Lindsay was unhurt but the horse had to be destroyed. = put down VERB: usu passive, be V-ed 4. see also soul-destroying

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Demolish, overturn, overthrow, subvert, raze, ruin, throw down, pull down, break up, sap the foundations of. 2. Annihilate, quench, take away, put an end to, bring to nought. 3. Waste, ravage, desolate, devastate, devour, lay waste, make desolate, swallow up, ravage with fire and sword. 4. Extirpate, eradicate, uproot, kill, slay, extinguish, carry off, root out, grub up, pluck up by the roots, cut up root and branch, strike at the root of, give a death-blow to, scatter to the winds.

Moby Thesaurus

abolish, abuse, afflict, aggrieve, annihilate, annul, assault, atomize, attack, baffle, balk, barbarize, batter, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, befoul, bereave of life, best, bewitch, blast, blight, botch, brave, break down, break up, bring to ruin, brutalize, burn, butcher, cancel out, carry away, carry off, carry on, challenge, checkmate, chloroform, circumvent, condemn, confound, confront, confute, consume, contradict, contravene, corrupt, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cripple, cross, crucify, crush, curse, cut down, cut off, damage, damn, dash, deal destruction, decapitate, decimate, defeat, defile, defy, demolish, deny, deprave, depredate, deprive of life, desolate, despoil, devastate, devitalize, devour, disable, disadvantage, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, dismantle, dispatch, dispose of, disprove, disrupt, disserve, dissolve, distress, do a mischief, do away with, do evil, do for, do ill, do in, do to death, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, drub, dynamite, elude, end, enfeeble, engorge, envenom, eradicate, execute, exhaust, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, finish, finish off, fix, flummox, foil, frustrate, get into trouble, go on, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, hammer, harass, harm, havoc, hex, hide, hors de combat, hurt, immolate, impair, incinerate, infect, injure, interfere with, jinx, kill, knock the chocks, lambaste, lather, launch into eternity, lay in ruins, lay waste, lick, liquidate, loot, lynch, make away with, maltreat, mangle, mar, martyr, martyrize, maul, menace, mistreat, molest, mug, mutilate, negate, neutralize, nonplus, nullify, outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrage, outrun, outsail, outshine, overthrow, overturn, perplex, persecute, pillage, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, pollute, prejudice, pull down, pulverize, purge, put, put away, put down, put to death, put to sleep, quench, rage, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, ravage, rave, raze, refute, remove from life, reverse, riot, roar, rub out, rubble, ruin, ruinate, sabotage, sack, sacrifice, savage, scathe, scotch, settle, shatter, shipwreck, shoot, skin, skin alive, slaughter, slay, smash, sow chaos, spike, spoil, starve, stonewall, stop, storm, stump, swallow up, taint, take life, take off, tear, tear around, tear down, terminate, terrorize, thrash, threaten, throw into disorder, thwart, torment, torture, trash, trim, triumph over, trounce, unbuild, undermine, undo, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, upset, vandalize, vaporize, violate, waste, weaken, whip, wipe, wipe out, worst, wound, wrack, wreak havoc, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong