demolishing 1 of 2

demolishing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of demolish
1
2
as in ruining
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 shattering
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of demolishing
Noun
In the filing, Omni Hotels outlined a five-year timeframe that would get the site fully designed, permitted and prepared for construction, noting construction would not start until at least five years after the demolishing of the buildings on site. — Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
This is not the first time a coach in LAUSD has gotten into trouble trying to improve a facility, with the district issuing disciplinary action and demolishing the improvement because it was not authorized. — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026 On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it. — Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026 Chinese leader Xi Jinping, however, has spent the past decade demolishing nearly every institution that supposedly kept the party strong. — Andrew Mertha, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026 The problem is that the Giants are a bit overrated after demolishing the Cowboys and the Rams are a bit underrated after their terrible performance in Australia against the 49ers. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Sep. 2026 The condition was dire enough that demolishing the building was a consideration. — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 16 Sep. 2026 One drone operator talks about going out for lunch or hanging out with their friends in Tel Aviv after demolishing people’s houses in Gaza from miles away. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026 At Cordova Villa Elementary, construction includes demolishing the existing administration building and a classroom building. — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026 By 2022, the former mill was in disrepair, leading the city to purchase the property with the intention of demolishing it. — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demolishing
Noun
  • At least, there was a lot less wrecking.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The Ravens haven’t really had that game-wrecking pass rusher since Terrell Suggs was in his prime.
    — The Athletic NFL Staff, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Sign up for the newsletter When the rain does fall, Kabul’s hard, impermeable surfaces mean the water doesn’t replenish aquifers, but instead sweeps through the city as flash floods, destroying homes, killing people and rolling away.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Space debris is generated not only by kinetic space weapons but also when satellites collide and get smashed into countless fragments and smaller particles that travel at high velocity and are capable of destroying or damaging more spacecraft.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Seaver also allegedly threatened to start a podcast dedicated to ruining Parton’s image unless he was paid.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • But recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries have led to widespread fuel shortages, shattering the illusion that the consequences of the conflict are far removed from ordinary Russians.
    — Zahra Ullah, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
  • My oven is never going to get that same shattering all-over crunch.
    — Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Sixty-five percent of Gazans agreed that armed resistance had failed to protect Palestinians and had instead brought destruction.
    — Michael Robbins, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Look past the 1951 setting, however, and the movie's anti-war message about humanity being on a crash course to destruction has never lost its poignancy.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • In the course of three weeks, Israeli soldiers destroyed much of the area, razing schools and mosques and commandeering buildings for use as military posts.
    — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Its original construction took years and involved razing an entire district of the city.
    — Benjamin Moser, Travel + Leisure, 8 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • But of the leaders of those three mega-bands, perhaps the most mysterious remains Pete Townshend, The Who’s songwriter and enigmatic eminence, thrashing chords and smashing guitars while Roger Daltrey handled lead vocals.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2026
  • How would Flock stop someone from smashing a car window in the dead of night on a street where no camera is watching?
    — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Winds blowing east to west along the equator push water in the Pacific Ocean west toward Asia, Jacox said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Andersen sees energy storage, which would allow for continual energy supply even when the wind isn’t blowing, as the wind sector’s next big opportunity.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Demolishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demolishing. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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