Destroy

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: de=stroy

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Destroy, v.tr.
1 pull or break down; demolish (destroyed the bridge).
2 end the existence of (the accident destroyed her confidence).
3 kill (esp. a sick or savage animal).
4 make useless; spoil utterly.
5 ruin financially, professionally, or in reputation.
6 defeat (destroyed the enemy).

Etymology

ME f. OF destruire ult. f. L destruere (as DE-, struere struct- build)

THESAURUS

Destroy

abolish, abuse, afflict, aggrieve, annihilate, annul, assault, atomize, attack, baffle, balk, barbarize, batter, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, befoul, bereave of life, best, bewitch, blast, blight, botch, brave, break down, break up, bring to ruin, brutalize, burn, butcher, cancel out, carry away, carry off, carry on, challenge, checkmate, chloroform, circumvent, condemn, confound, confront, confute, consume, contradict, contravene, corrupt, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cripple, cross, crucify, crush, curse, cut down, cut off, damage, damn, dash, deal destruction, decapitate, decimate, defeat, defile, defy, demolish, deny, deprave, depredate, deprive of life, desolate, despoil, devastate, devitalize, devour, disable, disadvantage, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, dismantle, dispatch, dispose of, disprove, disrupt, disserve, dissolve, distress, do a mischief, do away with, do evil, do for, do ill, do in, do to death, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, drub, dynamite, elude, end, enfeeble, engorge, envenom, eradicate, execute, exhaust, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, finish, finish off, fix, flummox, foil, frustrate, get into trouble, go on, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, hammer, harass, harm, havoc, hex, hide, hors de combat, hurt, immolate, impair, incinerate, infect, injure, interfere with, jinx, kill, knock the chocks, lambaste, lather, launch into eternity, lay in ruins, lay waste, lick, liquidate, loot, lynch, make away with, maltreat, mangle, mar, martyr, martyrize, maul, menace, mistreat, molest, mug, mutilate, negate, neutralize, nonplus, nullify, outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrage, outrun, outsail, outshine, overthrow, overturn, perplex, persecute, pillage, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, pollute, prejudice, pull down, pulverize, purge, put, put away, put down, put to death, put to sleep, quench, rage, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, ravage, rave, raze, refute, remove from life, reverse, riot, roar, rub out, rubble, ruin, ruinate, sabotage, sack, sacrifice, savage, scathe, scotch, settle, shatter, shipwreck, shoot, skin, skin alive, slaughter, slay, smash, sow chaos, spike, spoil, starve, stonewall, stop, storm, stump, swallow up, taint, take life, take off, tear, tear around, tear down, terminate, terrorize, thrash, threaten, throw into disorder, thwart, torment, torture, trash, trim, triumph over, trounce, unbuild, undermine, undo, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, upset, vandalize, vaporize, violate, waste, weaken, whip, wipe, wipe out, worst, wound, wrack, wreak havoc, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong

ROGET THESAURUS

Destroy

Inexistence

VB not exist, have no existence, be null and void, cease to exist, pass away, perish, be extinct, become extinct, die out, disappear, melt away, dissolve, leave not a rack behind, go, be no more, die, annihilate, render null, nullify, abrogate, destroy, take away, remove, obliterate, extirpate.

Badness

VB be hurtful, cause evil, produce evil, inflict evil, work evil, do evil, damnify, endamage, hurt, harm, injure, pain, wrong, aggrieve, oppress, persecute, trample upon, tread upon, bear hard upon, put upon, overburden, weigh down, weigh heavy on, victimize, run down, molest, maltreat, abuse, ill-use, ill-treat, buffet, bruise, scratch, maul, smite, do violence, do harm, do a mischief, stab, pierce, outrage, do mischief, make mischief, bring into trouble, destroy.

Deterioration

VB be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated Adj, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate.

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Inaction

VB not do, not act, not attempt, be inactive, abstain from doing, do nothing, hold, spare, not stir, not move, not lift a finger, not lift a foot, not lift a peg, fold one's arms, fold one's hands, leave alone, let alone, let be, let pass, let things take their course, let it have its way, let well alone, let well enough alone, quieta non movere, stare super antiquas vias, rest and be thankful, live and let live, lie rest upon one's oars, laisser aller, faire, stand aloof, refrain, keep oneself from doing, remit one's efforts, relax one's efforts, desist, stop, pause, wait, lie in wait, bide one's time, take time, tide it over, cool one's heels, kick one's heels, while away the time, while away tedious hours, pass the time, fill up the time, beguile the time, talk against time, let the grass grow under one's feet, waste time, lie by, lie on the shelf, lie in ordinary, lie idle, lie to, lie fallow, keep quiet, slug, have nothing to do, whistle for want of thought, undo, do away with, take down, take to pieces, destroy.

Abrogation

VB abrogate, annul, cancel, destroy, abolish, revoke, repeal, rescind, reverse, retract, recall, abolitionize, overrule, override, set aside, disannul, dissolve, quash, nullify, declare null and void, disestablish, disendow, deconsecrate, disclaim, ignore, repudiate, recant, divest oneself, break off, countermand, counter order, do away with, sweep away, brush away, throw overboard, throw to the dogs, scatter to the winds, cast behind, dismiss, discard, cast off, turn off, cast out, cast adrift, cast out of doors, cast aside, cast away, send off, send away, send packing, send about one's business, discharge, get rid of, bounce, fire, fire out, sack, cashier, break, oust, unseat, unsaddle, unthrone, dethrone, disenthrone, depose, uncrown, unfrock, strike off the roll, disbar, disbench, be abrogated, receive its quietus, walk the plank.

Destruction

VB be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.