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
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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 dorm is the only component of the former campus that Continuum didn’t demolish.
—
Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025
It was sadly demolished in 1980 to make way for a parking lot, but its legacy lives on in the new club.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2025
The president, talking to reporters on Air Force One on his way home overnight, said his focus now was on rebuilding Gaza, which has been demolished by two years of war.
—Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2025
The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant operated until the late 1980s, after which the K-27 and K-29 buildings were demolished in 2016 and 2006, respectively.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for demolish
Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025
It was sadly demolished in 1980 to make way for a parking lot, but its legacy lives on in the new club.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2025
The president, talking to reporters on Air Force One on his way home overnight, said his focus now was on rebuilding Gaza, which has been demolished by two years of war.
—Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2025
The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant operated until the late 1980s, after which the K-27 and K-29 buildings were demolished in 2016 and 2006, respectively.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for demolish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demolish
Verb
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Almost every building is damaged or destroyed beyond repair.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
19 Oct. 2025
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According to Craig Croucher of the Bot Builders, around 300 spectators turned out to watch the robots destroy each other.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Back in January, Preston remembered filming My Best Friend’s Wedding — and how an iconic scene ruined crab and lobster for her.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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Packages of flying tortillas thrown at the wrong time, or pocket knives, would only hurt a reputation that Texas Tech has worked doggedly to change and show that the Red Raiders are at home on a national stage, and not the crazy drunk uncle ruining a holiday.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Tessa Ia leads the series as Valeria Goldberg, a young woman in a Jewish-Mexican community who makes a mistake that shatters her world and forces her into a desperate fight to find her missing children.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
17 Oct. 2025
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When a prosperous farming family was murdered in their own home in cold blood for no reason at all by two young male ex-cons, the image of a neat, safe, mid-20th century rural American life was shattered.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Gacy's house was demolished, and the property was razed in April 1979.—
Jessica Sager,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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In this case, the building has been essentially razed.—
Rebekah Riess,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Though the large recall sent shockwaves through the EV space, many fans of the nameplate were left devastated because of its initial positive reception.—
Charles Singh,
Nashville Tennessean,
15 Oct. 2025
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Suspect arrest in deadly Palisades Fire The man accused of starting a fire that eventually became the deadly blaze that devastated the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles earlier this year has been indicted by a federal grand jury, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.—
Alex Stone,
ABC News,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Thieves scaled the facade of the Parisian museum in broad daylight Sunday, using a ladder boosted by a mechanical boom truck and forcing a window open, smashing display cases inside, and making off with a handful of priceless jewels, PEOPLE previously reported.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
20 Oct. 2025
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Officials said thieves extended a basket lift to a window and smashed it open with an angle grinder.—
Bonny Chu , Ronn Blitzer,
FOXNews.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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If the 12-point underdog Las Vegas Raiders somehow upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Week 7 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, defensive end Maxx Crosby will have wrecked the game.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
17 Oct. 2025
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Six games into his fourth NFL season, Thibodeaux has flashed the game-wrecking potential that led to the Giants grabbing him in the top five of the of the 2022 draft.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Commanders blew a late-fourth-quarter lead and turned the ball over three times before losing to the Bears on a last-second field goal.—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
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Sloppy passes, stagnant offense, blown defensive assignments, poor decisions.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Demolish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demolish. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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