Definify.com
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.
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.Definition 2025
destroy
destroy
English
Verb
destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)
-
- The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.
- (intransitive) To cause destruction.
- Hooligans destroy unprovoked.
- (transitive) To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
- Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate.
- (transitive) To put down or euthanize.
- Destroying a rabid dog is required by law.
- (colloquial, transitive) To defeat soundly.
- (computing, transitive) To remove data.
- The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Derived terms
Related terms
Related terms
Translations
to damage beyond use or repair
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to cause destruction
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to neutralize
to put down or euthanize (e.g. an animal)
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(computing) to remove data (e.g., from memory)
(colloquial) to defeat soundly