Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To tear down or break apart the structure of; raze. synonym: destroy.
- transitive verb To do away with completely; put an end to.
- transitive verb To damage (someone's reputation, for example) severely.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To throw or pull down; destroy the structural character of, as a building or a wall; reduce to ruins.
- To destroy in general; put an end to; ruin utterly; lay waste.
- Synonyms Raze, Demolish. Raze, to level with the ground; demolish, to destroy by complete separation of parts. A house is razed when it is leveled, even if it largely holds together; it is demolished if torn to pieces, even if some parts of it stand in place.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To throw or pull down; to raze; to destroy the fabric of; to pull to pieces; to ruin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
destroy ; todestruct - verb transitive To utterly
defeat
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb destroy completely
- verb defeat soundly
- verb humiliate or depress completely
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word demolish.
Examples
-
Would destroy - as in demolish and concrete over - communities that have developed over centuries and vast swathes of unspoilt countryside and ancient woodlands and prime farmland.
Heathrow-stock Newmania 2007
-
Blendtec - a company that manufactures blenders and produces a series called demolish the iPad a few months back, which must have gone straight to the heart of a goodly number of Apple fanboys and girls.
-
To "demolish" Behe's review of the malaria evidence, one would need to show evolution's ability to do much more with malaria than blow up bridges to foil adversarial attacks.
-
Chavez 'response to the alleged plotters is a brash "Bring it on!" and warns that, if they try, he'll "demolish" them ... obliterate them off the face of the earth!
-
In the piece, the Times painted her as the queen meenie in the fight among landlords to evict rent-regulated tenants in order to "demolish" read: convert to condos apartment buildings.
Chumley's Dark, But Still Standing—For Now Brooks of Sheffield 2007
-
In the piece, the Times painted her as the queen meenie in the fight among landlords to evict rent-regulated tenants in order to "demolish" read: convert to condos apartment buildings.
Archive 2007-04-01 Brooks of Sheffield 2007
-
S. O'BRIEN: We've had some people say on our air that they think it's because poor black people live in the Lower 9th Ward and, you know, you kind of demolish the homes, you get rid of a bunch of people who are, in many cases, on the state's dole.
-
But I find it profitable to pray and meditate on the mystery of Christ among us, and leave those who would "demolish" Him to their work.
Keisha and Mary. Ann Althouse 2006
-
But it’s something else entirely when ordinary Americans, whose children dream of appearing in the national tour of Mamma Mia, agree to be dragged onto national TV to physically demolish a karaoke version of "Grease Is The Word."
Your Mama Is Even Cooler When She Don’t Dance | Best Week Ever 2008
-
Levy said: Accusations that we would 'demolish' £500million of stadium are hugely inaccurate and highly irresponsible and I want to be very clear on this issue.
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word demolish
When the buildings we demolish,
Have fallen to the ground,
We stand aside, like someone died
And wait for the polish.
July 17, 2009