Destroy Definition & Meaning

American

British

Related Words

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms destroy American [dih-stroi] / dɪˈstrɔɪ /

verb (used with object)

1. to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.

   Synonyms: devastate, ravage, waste, level, smash Antonyms: create

2. to put an end to; extinguish.

   Synonyms: uproot, annihilate, extirpate Antonyms: create

3. to kill; slay.

4. to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.

5. to defeat completely.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in destruction.

destroy British / dɪˈstrɔɪ /

verb

1. to ruin; spoil; render useless

2. to tear down or demolish; break up; raze

3. to put an end to; do away with; extinguish

4. to kill or annihilate

5. to crush, subdue, or defeat

6. (intr) to be destructive or cause destruction

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

Destroy, demolish, raze imply reducing a thing to uselessness. To destroy is to reduce something to nothingness or to take away its powers and functions so that restoration is impossible: Fire destroys a building. Disease destroys tissues. To demolish is to destroy something organized or structured: to demolish a machine. To raze is to level down to the ground: to raze a fortress.

Other Word Forms

• destroyable adjective
• half-destroyed adjective
• predestroy verb (used with object)
• self-destroyed adjective
• self-destroying adjective
• undestroyed adjective
• well-destroyed adjective

Etymology

Origin of destroy

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin dēstrūgere (unattested), for Latin dēstruere ( dē- de- + struere “to pick up, build”)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The old observatory was destroyed in a "devastating fire" on 23 June 2021.

From BBC

In T1D, beta cells are destroyed because the immune system no longer recognizes them as part of the body.

From Science Daily

The devastating fires, which broke out Jan. 7, 2025, destroyed thousands of homes and claimed the lives of 31 people, according to official records.

From MarketWatch

The home was destroyed in an explosion in February 1980, a few months after the ayatollah's death.

From Barron's

Even last year, Iran had a limited number of medium-range ballistic missiles that could reach all the way to Israel, some 600 miles away, and much of that stock was either used up or destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• consume
• crush
• damage
• dismantle
• end
• eradicate
• gut
• impair
• kill
• maim
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• smash
• smash-up
• wipe out
• wreck

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.