destroy

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   put (an animal) to death

   The customs agents destroyed the dog that was found to be rabid

2. 2
   verb

   do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of

   The fire destroyed the house

3. 3
   verb

   To damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist.

   The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.

4. 4
   verb

   To neutralize, undo a property or condition.

   Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate.

5. 5
   verb

   To put down or euthanize.

   Destroying a rabid dog is required by law.

6. 6
   verb

   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.

7. 7
   verb

   To utterly defeat; to crush.

   Remember when Germany destroyed Brazil 7–1 in the World Cup?

8. 8
   verb

   To remove data.

   The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.

Etymology

From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, Vulgar Latin *destrugō, from Classical Latin dēstruō, from dē- (“un-, de-”) + struō (“to build”).