demolish

verb

de·​mol·​ish di-ˈmä-lish 

demolished; demolishing; demolishes

transitive verb

1

: tear down, raze

demolish a building

2

: to cause irreparable damage to: such as

a

: to break to pieces : smash

His car was demolished in the accident.

b

: 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

c

: to strip of any pretense of merit or credence

demolished her debate opponents

demolish a stereotype

demolished myths about the disease

3

informal : to defeat (a person or team) easily or completely

4

informal : to eat all of quickly

demolished the pizza

demolisher noun

demolishment

di-ˈmä-lish-mənt 

noun

Synonyms of demolish

• destroy
• raze
• smash

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

Harry Styles owned the property from 2014 to 2016, but his house was subsequently demolished and rebuilt by Simo Design and Fischer Construction before it was sold to Warner Brothers CEO and co-chairman Aaron Bay-Schuck in 2019 for $11 million. —Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 14 Apr. 2026

The town would get about 70 new apartments and a few fresh businesses while about half of the Canton Village retail complex would be demolished, according to the terms of a new development proposal. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 14 Apr. 2026

Sunday night, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said recovery phase began with removing larger pieces of concrete that crews demolished from the once seven-story parking garage, which was being built for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia employees. —Tom Ignudo, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026

That building will have 121 guest rooms and suites, about a third of the 326 rooms in the hotel that was demolished. —Miami Herald, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for demolish

• abolish
• gaulish
• polish
• smallish

Kids Definition

demolish

verb

de·​mol·​ish di-ˈmäl-ish 

a

: tear down, raze

b

: to break to pieces : smash 2 : to do away with : put an end to

demolisher noun

demolishment

-ish-mənt 

noun