destroy

verb

de·stroy di-ˈstrȯi

dē-

destroyed; destroying; destroys

transitive verb

: to ruin the structure, organic existence, or condition of

destroyed the files

also : to ruin as if by tearing to shreds

their reputation was destroyed

a disease that destroys the body's ability to fight off illness

… destroyed any hope of a return to past crackdowns …

George Brock

: to put out of existence : kill

destroy an injured horse

: neutralize

the moon destroys the light of the stars

: annihilate, vanquish

armies had been crippled but not destroyed

W. L. Shirer

intransitive verb

: to cause ruin or destruction

it is proverbially easier to destroy than to construct

T. S. Eliot

Example Sentences

Eventually our problems with money destroyed our marriage. All the files were deliberately destroyed. The disease destroys the body's ability to fight off illness. The bomb blast destroyed the village. The dog had to be destroyed since its owner could not prevent it from attacking people.

Recent Examples on the Web Merteuil and Valmont casually destroy the lives of anyone unlucky enough to cross their paths, but their intense feelings for each other soon begin to complicate things.

Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 28 Nov. 2022 Pests destroy up 40% of the world’s crops each year, causing $220 billion in economic losses, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Tom Page, CNN, 24 Nov. 2022 Every year, insects like the cotton bollworm destroy more than 20 percent of the world’s crops.

WIRED, 23 Nov. 2022 Precisely targeted, even a small number could destroy crucial parts of a modern warship’s defenses.

Mark Bowden, The Atlantic, 22 Nov. 2022 The following two scenes utterly destroy it, and everyone loses money (including the audience).

Dan Selinger, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2022 These acts of eco-vandalism, which are specifically targeting paintings covered in glass, as to not permanently destroy them, are not targeting climate deniers or people who refuse to listen to the science, the experts say.

Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2022 Like Flight 93, where passengers on 9/11 rushed the cockpit and crashed the plane, denying terrorists their ultimate target, so the Claremonters would destroy the government—to save us all.

Firmin Debrabander, The New Republic, 7 Nov. 2022 And yet there’s no advice in the world that can protect someone from this agonizing choice: destroy the pages and become one thing, hold onto them and become something else.

Hannah Gold, Harper’s Magazine , 26 Oct. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'destroy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French destroy-, destrui-, stem of destrure, from Vulgar Latin *destrugere, alteration of Latin destruere, from de- + struere to build — more at structure

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of destroy was in the 13th century

See more words from the same century