1
as in to destroy
to destroy (as a building) completely by knocking down or breaking to pieces
developers demolished the old warehouse to make room for the new shopping mall
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to ruin
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
most of the buildings in the town had been demolished in the bombing raid
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to shatter
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive
terrorists used a powerful pipe bomb to demolish the concrete wall around the compound
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of demolish
The developer had planned to demolish the building and had begun stripping the units.
—
Catherine Odom
january 29, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
The building had to be demolished because of the chemicals used to fight the fire.
—Elizabeth MacBride, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The Star wrote last week about the hazards at the vacant apartments and concern that fires could continue until the complex is demolished.
—Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 28 Jan. 2026
The building where De Quincey and the nameless little girl huddled together under a scrap of rug and an old sofa cover has since been demolished, replaced by a Barclays bank.
—Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for demolish
Catherine Odom
january 29, Miami Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
The building had to be demolished because of the chemicals used to fight the fire.
—Elizabeth MacBride, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
The Star wrote last week about the hazards at the vacant apartments and concern that fires could continue until the complex is demolished.
—Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 28 Jan. 2026
The building where De Quincey and the nameless little girl huddled together under a scrap of rug and an old sofa cover has since been demolished, replaced by a Barclays bank.
—Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for demolish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demolish
Verb
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But the Red Sox destroyed and ended their relationship with their only true power hitter and proven winner for a player who, though an undeniably excellent addition, was here for 117 total games.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
12 Jan. 2026
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In the Pacific Palisades and nearby Malibu, flames burned for 31 days, scorching 37 square miles and destroying more than 6,000 structures, most of them homes.—
Sarah Alegre,
FOXNews.com,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
Dana Goodyear,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
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This will either change your life or ruin you.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The sequence of Enoch among the heavenly hosts, violent, shattering with Blakeian geometry and color.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Family describes unimaginable grief In a statement, Grace Brito's mother, Tracy Brito, described a family shattered by the loss of their daughter.—
Marvin Hurst,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Orange County will pay $33 million to resolve hundreds of claims related to the Airport fire, the destructive 2024 blaze sparked by its public works crew that burned for 26 days and razed homes and structures between two counties.—
Claire Wang,
Oc Register,
28 Jan. 2026
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Rather than raze the city days before it was recovered by the Allied forces, Choltitz went rogue, negotiated a truce, and surrendered the city.—
Sally Susman,
Time,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Grand Canyon National Park is preparing to reopen portions of the North Rim after the Dragon Bravo Fire devastated the region last summer.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Through its Quds Force, the Guard backed regional groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, but recent Israeli strikes have devastated its network.—
Jon Gambrell,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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An agent pepper sprayed him, smashed his window and dragged him out of the car, according to his account.—
Jude Joffe-Block,
NPR,
31 Jan. 2026
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By smashing together heavy atoms of lead traveling at near-light speeds using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists can create a high-energy environment that briefly frees gluons and quarks from this atomic bondage, recreating the quark-gluon plasma of the early universe.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The Italians fought and lost to Robert Moses’s wrecking whims; Puerto Ricans who could fled to Jersey for the privilege of a backyard.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
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The hits wrecked the vehicle and deployed at least one of the airbags, according to the report.—
Anders Hagstrom,
FOXNews.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But aerospace engineers at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a material that blows those two out of the water with nearly thrice the thermal conductivity.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The shuttle just suddenly blew apart.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demolish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demolish. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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