destroy

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To ruin completely; spoil: The ancient manuscripts were destroyed by fire.
2. v. To tear down or break up; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin.
3. v. To do away with; put an end to: "In crowded populations, poverty destroys the possibility of cleanliness” ( George Bernard Shaw).
4. v. To kill: destroy a rabid dog.
5. v. To subdue or defeat completely; crush: The rebel forces were destroyed in battle.
6. v. To render useless or ineffective: destroyed the testimony of the prosecution's chief witness.
7. v. To be destructive; cause destruction: "Too much money destroys as surely as too little” ( John Simon).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To pull down; unbuild (that which has been built or constructed); demolish: as, to destroy a building or a fortification; to destroy a city.
2. To overthrow; lay waste; ruin; make desolate.
3. To kill; slay; extirpate: applied to men or animals.
4. To bring to naught; put an end to; annihilate; obliterate entirely; cause to cease, or to cease to be: as, to destroy one's happiness or peace of mind by worry.
5. To counteract or render of no avail; take away, detract from, or vitiate the power, force, value, use, or beauty of; ruin; spoil: as, to destroy a person's influence.
6. To refute; disprove.

Wiktionary

1. v. To damage beyond use or repair.
2. v. To cause destruction.
3. v. To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
4. v. To put down or euthanize.
5. v. To defeat soundly.
6. v. To remove data.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish.
2. v. To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume.
3. v. To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. destroy completely; damage irreparably
2. v. put (an animal) to death
3. v. do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of
4. v. defeat soundly