destroy
To destroy is defined as to damage, ruin or spoil something beyond repair.
(verb)When you drive a truck into a house and totally demolish it, this is an example of a situation where you destroy the house.
See destroy in Webster's New World College Dictionary
transitive verb
- to tear down; demolish
- to break up or spoil completely; ruin
- to bring to total defeat; crush
- to put an end to; do away with
- to kill
- to neutralize the effect of
- to make useless
Origin: ME destroien < OFr destruire < L destruere < de-, down + struere, to build: see structure
intransitive verb
See destroy in American Heritage Dictionary 4
verb de·stroyed, de·stroy·ing, de·stroys verb, transitive
- To ruin completely; spoil: The ancient manuscripts were destroyed by fire.
- To tear down or break up; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin.
- To do away with; put an end to: “In crowded populations, poverty destroys the possibility of cleanliness” (George Bernard Shaw).
- To kill: destroy a rabid dog.
- To subdue or defeat completely; crush: The rebel forces were destroyed in battle.
- To render useless or ineffective: destroyed the testimony of the prosecution's chief witness.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English destroien
Origin: , from Old French destruire
Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *dēstrūgere
Origin: , back-formation from Latin dēstrūctus
Origin: , past participle of dēstruere, to destroy
Origin: : dē-, de-
Origin: + struere, to pile up; see ster-2 in Indo-European roots
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