destroy

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“
I am to destroy, that is the word the messenger spoke.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. transitive verb To ruin completely; spoil: The ancient manuscripts were destroyed by fire.
  2. transitive verb To tear down or break up; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin.
  3. transitive verb To do away with; put an end to: "In crowded populations, poverty destroys the possibility of cleanliness” (George Bernard Shaw).
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Examples (50)

  • It is in antithesis with destroy, and means to perfect and complete The old ceremonial forms of religious worship, pointed to the advent of one who should be a perfect sacrifice for sin, typified by the daily sacrifice of bulls and rams. —  Usury A Scriptural, Ethical and Economic View
  • I am to destroy, that is the word the messenger spoke FATHER JOHN. —  The Unicorn from the Stars and Other Plays
  • You're going to destroy, and I'm going to preserve I burst out laughing I say, Tom," I cried, as he looked up at me innocently, in surprise at my mirth, and I went and sat at the other end of the bin; "had one better kill poor people out of their misery than preserve them to look like that?" —  Burr Junior
  • "The old one I will destroy, as should have been done before. —  For Fortune and Glory A Story of the Soudan War
  • He had no wish to destroy--his work was to purify. —  Heroes of Modern Europe
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This word has been looked up 149 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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destroy:   destroying ·  destroyed ·  destroys
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English destroien, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin *dēstrūgere, back-formation from Latin dēstrūctus, past participle of dēstruere, to destroy : dē-, de- + struere, to pile up; see ster-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English destroyen, destroien, destruyen, destryen, destruen, destrien, distroyen, etc. (also by apheresis stroyen: see stroy), from Old French destruire, French détruire = Provencal Spanish Portuguese destruir = Italian destruire, destruere, distruggere, from Latin destruere, pull down, ruin, destroy, from de- privative + struere, build: see structure, construct, instruct, etc., and also destruct, destruction, etc.
 

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/dɛsˈtrɔɪ/
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