destroying

present participle of destroy
1
as in ruining
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 & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 destroying Continue reading … HISTORY HYPOCRITES – Hawley turns tables on reporter when asked if White House renovation is destroying history. FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025 Saving Denji’s life, Pochita and the young man make a deal to fuse, imbuing him with the ability to turn parts of his body into Devil-destroying chainsaws. Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025 Experts warn that the $100 million worth of jewelry taken from the Louvre in a brazen daytime heist is likely to be dismantled for its precious gems and metals, destroying artifacts dating back to the Napoleonic era. Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025 So far, the EU’s ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, which will include pro-circularity mandates for certain thresholds of recycled content, the use of digital product passports and a ban on destroying unsold consumer goods, has been allowed to continue apace largely unscathed. Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 22 Oct. 2025 In a statement last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF would turn its attention to destroying the remaining tunnel network as part of the process of disarming Hamas. Matt Bradley, NBC news, 21 Oct. 2025 Block destruction is one of Minter’s defensive pillars, and the Chargers have not been destroying blocks on some of these explosive runs. Daniel Popper, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025 Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested. Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 17 Oct. 2025 Current industry practice involves destroying residual cyanide in waste tailings. Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destroying
Verb
  • Be sure to allow 20-30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark, and use a red light if needed in order to avoid ruining your night vision.
    Anthony Wood, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Last offseason, the narrative that the Los Angeles Dodgers were ruining baseball was born.
    MSNBC Newsweek, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In the late seventies, heroin began ravaging Dublin’s inner-city projects.
    Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Hatred, spread through rhetoric, populism and the internet, acts like a virus, ravaging any healthy social organism and bringing, death, destruction and pain.
    Alejandro González Iñárritu, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • By refusing to specify details of the case, the government keeps the possibility alive of changing their reasoning or their claims to have the same effect for different reasons—just as the mob changes its reasoning for killing Cinna.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Local police and first responders are also accused of failing to take Davis’ threats of killing someone seriously.
    Sean Neumann, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • That history came to an end after wrecking crews tore down the wing’s two stories of offices and reception rooms last week.
    Darlene Superville, Denver Post, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The big money takeover is wrecking college sports.
    , FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • That changed after Inter’s devastating 5–0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final — the worst defeat in the competition’s history.
    Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Sol Price had relinquished his official leadership role, and Robert’s fifteen-year-old son had recently died of cancer, devastating the family.
    Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Unfortunately, the serial killer known as John Doe is ritualistically slaying victims by turning the seven deadly sins into symbolic, atrocious murders.
    Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
  • The serpent-slaying formula likely traces back to an old Indo-European myth.
    Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • On Monday, The Washington Post reported that his construction crews have begun demolishing the facade of the White House’s East Wing to build a ballroom.
    Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The White House is requiring at least some of the construction workers tasked with demolishing the East Wing to sign non-disclosure agreements barring them from discussing their work, according to a White House official and sources familiar with the project.
    Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The first of the live-action adaptations arrived in November 2024, shattering box-office records.
    Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 20 Oct. 2025
  • The latter outlet, an NBC affiliate, reported that two bullets came through the window of his bedroom, shattering it in the process.
    Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Destroying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destroying. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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