Definition of destroy
Etymology
From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin destrugere, an alteration of Latin destruere, itself from de- 'un-' + struere 'to build'
Pronunciation
Verb
to destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)
- (transitive) To damage beyond use or repair.
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 palet
- (transitive) To put down or euthanize.
Destroying rabid dog is imposed 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
- destroyer
- destroyer escort
- destroying angel
Related terms
- destruct
- destructible
- destruction
- destructive
References:
- Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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