destroy

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Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin destrugere, an alteration of Latin destruere, itself from de- 'un-' + struere 'to build'

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to destroy

Third person singular
destroys

Simple past
destroyed

Past participle
destroyed

Present participle
destroying

to destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)

  1. (transitive) To damage beyond use or repair.
    The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.
  2. (intransitive) To cause destruction.
    Hooligans destroy unprovoked
  3. (transitive) To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
    Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palet
  4. (transitive) To put down or euthanize.
    Destroying rabid dog is imposed by law.
  5. (colloquial) (transitive) To defeat soundly.
  6. (computing) (transitive) To remove data.
    The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

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