demolish

verb

de·mol·ish | \ di-ˈmä-lish

demolished; demolishing; demolishes

Definition of demolish

1a : tear down, raze demolish a building

b : to break to pieces : smash His car was demolished in the accident.

2a : to do away with : destroy a filibuster which would effectively demolish the issue — Current Biography … a performance so awkward and apathetic it instantly appeared to demolish any chance of restoring her declining career …— Dave Itzkoff

b : to strip of any pretense of merit or credence demolished her debate opponents demolish a stereotype

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Examples of demolish in a Sentence

The old factory was demolished to make way for a new parking lot. Tons of explosives were used to demolish the building. The town hopes to restore the old theater rather than have it demolished. The car was demolished in the accident. They demolished the other team 51–7.

Recent Examples on the Web

Bad for Women in Architecture Award To JP Morgan Chase, demolishing Natalie De Blois’s Union Carbide tower, a landmark in everyone’s eyes but theirs. — Mark Lamster, Curbed, "2018 in architecture: The good, the bad, and the urbanism," 27 Dec. 2018 Republicans have been fixated on loosening those federal rules, and this latest revision demolishes that key guardrail embedded in Obamacare. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "We have a new worst-case scenario for Obamacare," 3 Dec. 2018 The two countries have undertaken a number of steps designed to reduce hostility, including disarming guards at the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas and demolishing a number of guard posts along the border. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Pentagon Scales Back Joint U.S./South Korean Military Exercises," 26 Nov. 2018 Of the many buildings and homes demolished by the Camp Fire was Paradise High School. — Christianna Silva, Teen Vogue, "California's Fires Lead to School Closings, Poor Air Quality, and Public Service Shutdowns as Death Toll Climbs," 16 Nov. 2018 Workers have made an unexpected discovery when demolishing an uninhabited house in France — 600 gold coins. — Fox News, "Gold coins worth $117G discovered in abandoned house," 2 Oct. 2018 The city began demolishing the dilapidated buildings on the property in May, funded by a $1.9 million state grant. — Matthew Ormseth, courant.com, "Hartford Council Approves Sale Of Blighted North End Property, Tax Agreement For Hydroponics Company," 10 July 2018 Then, in 1954, the city’s Planning Commission, an arm of City Council, recommended that 61 acres in Corktown be demolished to remove blight. — John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press, "Here's what you might not know about Corktown's history," 9 July 2018 While plans were then made to demolish the house completely and replace it with a more modern structure, nothing was ever acted upon and Sandringham has remained the same. — Chanel Vargas, Town & Country, "Inside Queen Elizabeth II's Private Home at Sandringham Castle," 13 Dec. 2018

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

History and Etymology for demolish

borrowed from Middle French demolir, extended stem demoliss- (with final conformed to earlier English verbs with the same ending, as nourish, perish), borrowed from Latin dēmōlīrī, dēmōlīre "to throw off, pull down, raze," from dē- de- + mōlīrī "to labor to bring about, strive, build, construct." probably derivative of mōlēs "large mass, massive structure, effort, exertion" — more at mole entry 4