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Webster 1913 Edition

Destroy

De-stroy′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Destroyed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Destroying
.]
[OE.
destroien
,
destruien
,
destrien
, OF.
destruire
, F.
détruire
, 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.
Syn. – To demolish; lay waste; consume; raze; dismantle; ruin; throw down; overthrow; subvert; desolate; devastate; deface; extirpate; extinguish; kill; slay. See
Demolish
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Destroy

DESTROY

,
Verb.
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. Is. 36.
5.
To kill; to slay; to extirpate; applied to men or other animals.
Ye shall destroy all this people. Num. 32.
All the wicked will he destroy. Ps. 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. Rom 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, &c.
9.
In chimistry, to resolve a body into its parts or elements.

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