destroy

[dih-stroi]

verb (used with object)

1. to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.

   Synonyms: devastate, ravage, waste, level, smash
   Antonyms: create

2. to put an end to; extinguish.

   Synonyms: uproot, annihilate, extirpate
   Antonyms: create

3. to kill; slay.

4. to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.

5. to defeat completely.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in destruction.

destroy

/ dɪˈstrɔɪ /

verb

1. to ruin; spoil; render useless

2. to tear down or demolish; break up; raze

3. to put an end to; do away with; extinguish

4. to kill or annihilate

5. to crush, subdue, or defeat

6. (intr) to be destructive or cause destruction

Other Word Forms

• destroyable adjective
• half-destroyed adjective
• predestroy verb (used with object)
• self-destroyed adjective
• self-destroying adjective
• undestroyed adjective
• well-destroyed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of destroy¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin dēstrūgere (unattested), for Latin dēstruere ( dē- de- + struere “to pick up, build”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of destroy¹

C13: from Old French destruire, from Latin dēstruere to pull down, from _de- + struere to pile up, build

Synonym Study

Destroy, demolish, raze imply reducing a thing to uselessness. To destroy is to reduce something to nothingness or to take away its powers and functions so that restoration is impossible: Fire destroys a building. Disease destroys tissues. To demolish is to destroy something organized or structured: to demolish a machine. To raze is to level down to the ground: to raze a fortress.

Example Sentences

And George Washington, the biggest star of this momentous drama, was something of a bungler whose teeth were not wooden and who conducted a campaign to destroy Indigenous food stores.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Joseph explained that insurance companies generally avoid insuring too many homes in a given area because if they all get destroyed, the claims will be too expensive to pay out.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The senior facility was destroyed in the blaze.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Authoritarian regimes were now more willing to "disrupt and destroy," Burgess warned.

Read more on BBC

At-211 is often called the "perfect" or "Goldilocks" isotope because it can deliver just the right amount of radiation to destroy cancer cells while leaving the surrounding tissue unharmed.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• consume 
• crush 
• damage 
• dismantle 
• end 
• eradicate 
• gut 
• impair 
• kill 
• maim 
• ravage 
• raze 
• ruin 
• sabotage 
• shatter 
• smash 
• smash-up 
• wipe out 
• wreck