destroy

1 to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of they practically destroyed the safe in order to get at the money inside their poor scores on the final exam destroyed any chance they might have had to pass the course Synonyms annihilate, cream, decimate, demolish, desolate, devastate, do in, extinguish, nuke, pull down, pulverize, raze, rub out, ruin, shatter, smash, tear down, total, vaporize, waste, wrack, wreck Related Words beat, best, clobber, conquer, crush, defeat, drub, lick, master, overbear, overcome, overmatch, prevail (over), rout, scotch, skunk, subdue, surmount, thrash, trim, triumph (over), trounce, wallop, whip, win (against); blast, blow up, break, cripple, damage, deface, deteriorate, disfigure, disintegrate, dissolve, dynamite, harm, impair, injure, mangle, mar, mutilate, spoil, vitiate; erode, scour, sweep (away), wash out, wear (away); dilapidate, disassemble, dismantle, gut, take down, unbuild, undo, unmake; blot out, efface, eradicate, expunge, exterminate, extirpate, liquidate, obliterate, remove, root (out), snuff (out), stamp (out), wipe out; despoil, havoc, loot, pillage, plunder, ravage, sack, trample, trash, vandalize; assassinate, butcher, cut down, dispatch, execute, fell, kill, kill off, massacre, mow (down), murder, slaughter, slay, take out, zap Near Antonyms doctor, fix, mend, patch, recondition, repair, revamp; create, invent; assemble, fabricate, fashion, forge, form, frame, make, manufacture, mold, produce, shape; bring about, constitute, establish, father, found, institute, organize; conserve, preserve, protect, save; rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, renovate, restore Antonyms build, construct, erect, put up, raise, rear, set up

2 to bring destruction to (something) through violent action wildfires destroyed thousands of acres in forests across the state Synonyms ravage, devastate, ruin, scourgeRelated Words despoil, foray, harry, loot, maraud, pillage, plunder, sack, strip; annihilate, desolate, eradicate, expunge, extinguish, extirpate, nuke, obliterate, rub out, shatter, smash, total, vaporize, waste, wipe out, wrack, wreck; decimate, mow; demolish, raze; crush, overpower, overrun, overthrow, overwhelmNear Antonyms recondition, recover, redeem, rehabilitate, restore; fix, mend, patch, repair, revamp

3 to deprive of life regrettably, the veterinarian was forced to destroy the injured horse Synonyms carry off, claim, croak [slang], kill, dispatch, do in, fell, slay, takeRelated Words bump off, butcher, cut down, finish, get, ice [slang], knock off, murder, neutralize, off [slang], put away, rub out, scrag, snuff, take out, waste, whack [slang]; annihilate, blot out, decimate, kill off, massacre, mow, slaughter, smite; assassinate, execute, martyr, terminate; euthanize (also euthanatize), put down; suicideNear Antonyms raise, restore, resurrect, resuscitate, revive; nurtureAntonyms animate