destroy

de·stroy  (d-stroi)

v. de·stroyed, de·stroy·ing, de·stroys

v.tr.

1. To ruin completely; spoil: The ancient manuscripts were destroyed by fire.

2. To tear down or break up; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin.

3. To do away with; put an end to: "In crowded populations, poverty destroys the possibility of cleanliness" George Bernard Shaw.

4. To kill: destroy a rabid dog.

5. To subdue or defeat completely; crush: The rebel forces were destroyed in battle.

6. To render useless or ineffective: destroyed the testimony of the prosecution's chief witness.

v.intr.

To be destructive; cause destruction: "Too much money destroys as surely as too little" John Simon.

---

[Middle English destroien, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin *dstrgere, back-formation from Latin dstrctus, past participle of dstruere, to destroy : d-, de- + struere, to pile up; see ster-² in Indo-European roots.]

---

destroy

Verb

1. to ruin; demolish

2. to put an end to

3. to kill (an animal)

4. to crush or defeat [Latin destruere to pull down]

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	destroy - do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of; "The fire destroyed the house" destruct kill - destroy a vitally essential quality of or in; "Eating artichokes kills the taste of all other foods" do away with, eliminate, get rid of, extinguish - terminate, end, or take out; "Let's eliminate the course on Akkadian hieroglyphics"; "Socialism extinguished these archaic customs"; "eliminate my debts" unmake, undo - deprive of certain characteristics self-destroy, self-destruct - do away with oneself or itself; "The machine will self-destruct if you tamper with it" destruct - destroy (one's own missile or rocket); "The engineers had to destruct the rocket for safety reasons" end - put an end to; "The terrible news ended our hopes that he had survived" fracture - interrupt, break, or destroy; "fracture the balance of power" sweep away, wipe out - eliminate completely and without a trace; "The old values have been wiped out" interdict - destroy by firepower, such as an enemy's line of communication demolish, pulverise, pulverize - destroy completely; "the wrecking ball demolished the building"; "demolish your enemies"; "pulverize the rebellion before it gets out of hand" break apart, disassemble, take apart, dismantle, break up - take apart into its constituent pieces pull down, rase, raze, dismantle, tear down, level, take down - tear down so as to make flat with the ground; "The building was levelled" extirpate, root out, uproot, eradicate, exterminate - destroy completely, as if down to the roots; "the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted" "root out corruption" dilapidate - bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin by neglect or misuse demyelinate - destroy the myelin sheath of; "the disease demyelinated the nerve fibers"
	2.	destroy - destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up" ruin burn, burn down, fire - destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries" devastate, lay waste to, ravage, scourge, desolate, waste - cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion" ravage, harry - make a pillaging or destructive raid on (a place), as in wartimes break - find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof" bust, break - ruin completely; "He busted my radio!" vandalise, vandalize - destroy wantonly, as through acts of vandalism; "vandalize the park" do a job on - destroy completely or make ugly or useless; "The dog did a job on my pillow"; "The seamstress did a job on my wedding gown" subvert - destroy completely; "we must not let our civil liberties be subverted by the current crisis" get - overcome or destroy; "The ice storm got my hibiscus"; "the cat got the goldfish" devour - destroy completely; "Fire had devoured our home" despoil, rape, plunder, violate, spoil - destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country" explode - destroy by exploding; "The enemy exploded the bridge" consume - destroy completely; "The fire consumed the building" shipwreck - destroy a ship; "The vessel was shipwrecked" bust up, wrack, wreck - smash or break forcefully; "The kid busted up the car" kick down, kick in - open violently; "kick in the doors" wash out - wear or destroy by the force of water; "The hail storms had washed out the bridges"
	3.	destroy - defeat soundly; "The home team demolished the visitors" demolish smash - overthrow or destroy (something considered evil or harmful); "The police smashed the drug ring after they were tipped off" swallow - engulf and destroy; "The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries" cut to ribbons - defeat totally; "We must cut the other team to ribbons!" defeat, get the better of, overcome - win a victory over; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up"
	4.	destroy - put (an animal) to death; "The customs agents destroyed the dog that was found to be rabid"; "the sick cat had to be put down" put down kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays"

---

destroy

verb 1. ruin, smash, crush, waste, devastate, break down, wreck, shatter, gut, wipe out, dispatch, dismantle, demolish, trash (slang) total (slang) ravage, slay, eradicate, torpedo, extinguish, desolate, annihilate, put paid to, raze, blow to bits, extirpate, blow sky-high

verb 2. slaughter, kill, exterminate

Translations

destroy [dɪsˈtrɔɪ] vt → destruir (= finish); acabar con

---

destroy [dɪsˈtrɔɪ] vt → détruire [+ injured horse]; abattre [+ dog]; faire piquer

---

destroy [dɪsˈtrɔɪ] vt → zerstören;

(animal) → töten

---

destroy [dɪsˈtrɔɪ] vt → distruggere