Destroy
[dɪ'strɒɪ] or [dɪ'strɔɪ]
Definition
(verb.) 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'.
(verb.) destroy completely; damage irreparably; 'You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!'; 'The tears ruined her make-up'.
(verb.) do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of; 'The fire destroyed the house'.
Checked by Enrique--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume.
(v. t.) To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill.
Checker: Williams
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Demolish, overturn, overthrow, subvert, raze, ruin, throw down, pull down, break up, sap the foundations of.[2]. Annihilate, quench, 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.
Edited by Bryan
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Demolish, annihilate, subvert, ruin, overthrow, undo, waste, consume
ANT:restore, reinstate, repair, fabricate, make, construct, create
Typist: Vivienne
Definition
v.i. to unbuild or pull down: to overturn: to ruin: to put an end to:—pr.p. destroy′ing:—pa.p. destroyed′.—n. Destroy′er.
Checker: Roland
Examples
- They were scheming to outdo one another, to rob weaker contemporaries, to destroy rivals, so that they might for a brief interval swagger. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Not in your sense of the word, but in mine you are scheming to destroy me. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- But you cannot destroy them until they rebel? Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- But how destroy them so effectually that there should be no second risk of their falling in such hands? Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- As I hoped in the end to besiege Vicksburg I must first destroy all possibility of aid. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- She does her best to destroy my fortunes and her own, and she won't reproach me! Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He did this in an attempt to destroy Jewry, but indeed he made Jewry stronger by destroying its one sensitive and vulnerable point. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The singing arrows that destroyed the army of Crassus came, it would seem, originally from the Altai and the Tian Shan. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Surely, I would say, all men do not wear those shocking nightcaps; else all women's illusions had been destroyed on the first night of their marriage! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The smoke, gases, and ashes left in the path of a raging forest fire are no compensation to us for the valuable timber destroyed. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Nothing in human shape could have destroyed that fair child. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- And the rigid examination system that killed all intellectual initiatives has been destroyed. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- All the bridges over these had been destroyed, and the rails taken up and twisted by the enemy. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The railroads, of course, were thoroughly destroyed on the way. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He did this, destroying the canal as far as Goochland, and the railroad to a point as near Richmond as he could get. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He did this in an attempt to destroy Jewry, but indeed he made Jewry stronger by destroying its one sensitive and vulnerable point. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The fact that the oxygen of the air is diluted as it were with so large a proportion of nitrogen, prevents fires from sweeping over the world and destroying everything in their path. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Thence he marched on Charlottesville, destroying effectually the railroad and bridges as he went, which place he reached on the 3d. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Marriage is encouraged in China, not by the profitableness of children, but by the liberty of destroying them. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- On the 1st of November I suggested to Sherman, and also asked his views thereon, the propriety of destroying Hood before he started on his campaign. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The blow broke the glass carboy, and the acid ran down upon the field magnets of the dynamo, destroying the windings of one of the twelve magnets. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Contaminated water is made safe by boiling for a few minutes, because the strong heat destroys the disease-producing germs. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Chloride of lime when exposed to the air and moisture slowly gives off chlorine, and can be used as a disinfectant because the gas thus set free attacks germs and destroys them. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This evidently destroys the precedent reasoning concerning the cause of thought or perception. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Every day, uncontrolled fire wipes out human lives and destroys vast amounts of property; every day, fire, controlled and regulated in stove and furnace, cooks our food and warms our houses. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- But of course the wooden seat is wrong--it destroys the perfect lightness and unity in tension the cane gave. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The removal of either of these destroys the passion; which evidently proves that the cause Is a compounded one. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I could have been--but this nasty Lady W---- destroys half my illusion. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
Edited by Astor