wreck

from The Century Dictionary.

• To cause the wreck of, as a vessel; suffer to be ruined or destroyed in the course of navigation or management: said specifically of the person under whose charge a vessel is at the time of its wreck, and usually implying blame, even in case of misfortune.
• To cause the downfall or overthrow of; ruin; shatter; destroy; bring into a disabled or ruinous condition by any means: as, to wreck a railroad-train or a bank; to wreck the fortunes of a family.
• To involve in a wreck; imperil or damage by wreck: as, a wrecked sailor; wrecked cargo
• To suffer wreck or ruin.
• noun The destruction, disorganization, disruption, or ruin of anything by force and violence; dilapidation: as, the wreck of a bridge; the wreck of one's fortunes.
• noun That which is in a state of wreck or ruin, or remains from the operation of any destroying agency: as, the building is a mere wreck; he is but the wreck of his former self.
• noun The partial or total destruction of a vessel at sea or in any navigable water, by any accident of navigation or by the force of the elements; shipwreck.
• noun A vessel ruined by wreck; the hulk and spars, more or less dismembered and shattered, of a vessel cast away or completely disabled by breaching, staving, or otherwise breaking.
• noun That which is east ashore by the sea; shipwrecked property, whether a part of the ship or of the cargo; wreckage; in old Eng. common law, derelict of the sea cast upon land within the body of a country, and not in the possession of the owner or his agents.
• noun Seaweeds cast ashore by storms; wrack.
• noun An obsolete form of wreak.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• verb See 2d & 3d wreak.
• transitive verb To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving it against the shore or on rocks, by causing it to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to shipwreck.
• transitive verb To bring wreck or ruin upon by any kind of violence; to destroy, as a railroad train.
• transitive verb To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
• intransitive verb To suffer wreck or ruin.
• intransitive verb To work upon a wreck, as in saving property or lives, or in plundering.
• noun The destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled or sunk by the force of winds or waves; shipwreck.
• noun Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin.
• noun The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture.
• noun The remain of anything ruined or fatally injured.
• noun (Law) Goods, etc., which, after a shipwreck, are cast upon the land by the sea.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Something or someone that has been ruined.
• noun The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
• noun An event in which something is damaged through collision.
• verb To cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
• verb To ruin or dilapidate.
• verb To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts. (Australia)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an accident that destroys a ship at sea
• noun something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
• noun a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles)
• noun a ship that has been destroyed at sea
• verb smash or break forcefully