destroy
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English
Etymology
From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, Vulgar Latin *destrugō, from Classical Latin dēstruō, from dē- (“un-, de-”) + struō (“I build”).
Pronunciation
Verb
destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)
- (transitive, intransitive) To damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist.
- The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.
- Hooligans destroy unprovoked.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, John 2:19:
- Iesus answered, and said vnto them, Destroy this temple, and in three dayes I will raise it vp.
- (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.
- (transitive) To severely disrupt the well-being of (a person); ruin.
- Her divorce destroyed her; she had a nervous breakdown and was severely depressed for more than a year.
- 2005, Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide:
- Other girls in the foster home are eager to destroy her and get her kicked out of the place. It's a tough situation.
- (transitive, informal) To utterly defeat; to crush.
- Remember when Germany destroyed Brazil 7–1 in the World Cup?
- 2012 November 11, Sam Anderson, “The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Fairy-Tale Rise”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-10:
- Growing up, [Kevin] Durant told me, he was a sore loser. That all changed one day when he was 11, after he got destroyed by his father in a game of one on one in the driveway.
- (transitive, computing) To remove data.
- The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.
- (transitive, bodybuilding, slang, antiphrasis) To exhaust completely and thus recreate or build up.
- This exercise is going to destroy all parts of your shoulders.
- (transitive, slang, vulgar) To penetrate sexually in an aggressive way.
- She got destroyed by her lover on the carpet.
- (transitive, US, slang) To sing a song extremely poorly.
Synonyms
See Thesaurus:destroy.
Antonyms
Derived 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)
(informal) to utterly defeat
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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