destruction

destruction
I
(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)
Act of destroying
Nouns
1. destruction, waste, dissolution, break[ing] up; disruption; consumption; disorganization. See loss.
2. (fact of destruction) fall, downfall, ruin, perdition, crash, smash, havoc, debacle, breakup; desolation, bouleversement, wreck, shipwreck, catastrophe, cataclysm; extinction, annihilation; destruction of life (see killing); obliteration; knock-down blow; [crack of] doom.
3. (act of destruction) destroying, demolition, demolishment; overthrow, subversion, revolution, sabotage; vandalism; abolition; nullification; sacrifice, ravage, devastation, incendiarism, extirpation, extermination, eradication; mayhem; road to ruin; dilapidation (see deterioration).
4. (agent of destruction) destroyer, exterminator; nihilist; bane, blight, moth, locust; executioner.
Verbs
1. (nullify) destroy, do or make away with, exterminate, kill off; nullify, annul (see nullification); obliterate, eradicate, stamp or wipe out; sacrifice, demolish, dismantle (see usefulness); tear up or down; overturn, overthrow, overwhelm; disrupt, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of; break up, cut up; break, cut, pull, mow, or beat down; cut short, take off, blot out; dispel, consume, burn out or up; disorganize, play or raise havoc with. Slang, total.
2. be destroyed, perish, fall [to the ground]; tumble, topple (see descent); go or fall to pieces, break up, crack up, crumble to dust; go to smash, pot, or wreck, go to the dogs or wall, go to wrack and ruin; go by the board, go all to smash; be all up or over with; cook one's goose; totter to its fall; [self-]destruct.
3. (break up) smash, dash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver (see brittleness); tear, cut, crush, pull, or pick to pieces; nip [in the bud]; ruin; strike out; throw or knock down, lay low; fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, submerge; lay in ashes or ruins; sweep away, eradicate, erase, expunge; raze, level. Slang, trash.
4. (destroy violently) deal destruction, lay waste, ravage; gut; swallow up, devour, desolate, devastate, sap, mine, blast, bang up; sabotage; extinguish, quench; annihilate; snuff, put, or stamp out; trample under foot; make short work of, make a clean sweep of, make mincemeat of; cut up root and branch; fling or scatter to the winds, throw overboard; strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up.
Adjectives
1. destroyed; disrupted; perishing, trembling; nodding or tottering to its fall; in course of destruction; done for; extinct. Informal, kaput. Slang, down the tubes or chute, fucked.
2. destructive, subversive, ruinous, incendiary, deletory; destroying, suicidal; deadly (see killing).
Phrases — the road to ruin is always kept in good repair.
Quotations — All men that are ruined are ruined on the side of their natural propensities (Edmund Burke), Let everyone witness how many different cards fortune has up her sleeve when she wants to ruin a man (Benvenuto Cellini).
Antonyms, see production.
II
(Roget's IV) n.
1. [The act of destroying]
Syn. demolition, demolishing, ruin, ruining, wrecking, tearing down, razing, leveling, annihilation, devastation, holocaust, eradication, obliteration, slaying, slaughter, carnage, liquidation, extirpation, overthrow, subversion, extermination, elimination, ravaging, consumption, abolition, murder, assassination, killing, disruption, bombardment, burning, dynamiting, laying waste, tearing apart, disintegration, extinction, ravagement, wreckage, subjugation, despoiling, depredation, dissolution, butchery, sabotage, subverting, ravaging, pillaging, plundering, despoliation, sacking, vandalism, subjugation, crushing, dissolving, invalidating, extinguishing, overthrowing, collision, crashing, falling, felling, dismantling, gutting, defacing, shattering, smashing, trampling, knocking down, stamping out, wiping out, sack, rack and ruin, crack of doom*; see also carnage , wreck 1 .
Ant. production*, formation, erection.
2. [The condition after destruction]
Syn. ruin, waste, ashes, wreck, annihilation, devastation, havoc, vestiges, desolation, ruins, overthrow, decay, dilapidation, disintegration, loss, bane, blight, remains, remnants, prostration, injury, impairment, ravage, downfall, end, bankruptcy, starvation, plague, shipwreck, dissolution, removal, sacrifice, disorganization, immolation; see also damage 2 .
Ant. restoration*, renovation, renewal.
Syn.- destruction implies annihilation or demolition, as by fire, explosion, flood, etc. [ the destruction of the village in an air raid ] ; ruin implies a state of decay, disintegration, etc. especially through such natural processes as age and weather [ the barn is in a state of ruin] ; havoc suggests total destruction or devastation, as following an earthquake or hurricane [ the storm wreaked havoc along the coast ] ; dilapidation implies a state of ruin or shabbiness resulting from neglect [ the dilapidation of a deserted house ]
III
(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.
wreckage, demolition, annihilation, ruins, devastation, ravaging, liquidation, havoc, extinction, eradication, slaughter, decimation.
ANT.: building, creation, preservation
IV
(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. The act of destroying or state of being destroyed: bane, devastation, havoc, ruin, ruination, undoing, wrack1, wreck, wreckage. See HELP, LEFTOVER. 2. An act, instance, or consequence of breaking: breakage, damage, impairment, wreckage. See HELP. 3. Something that causes total loss or severe impairment, as of one's health, fortune, honor, or hopes: bane, destroyer, downfall, ruin, ruination, undoing, wrecker. See HELP.

English dictionary for students. 2013.

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  • destruction — [ dɛstryksjɔ̃ ] n. f. • déb. XIIe; lat. destructio ♦ Action de détruire; son résultat. 1 ♦ Action de jeter bas, de faire disparaître (une construction). Destruction d une ville par un incendie, par les bombardements. Moyens, engins de destruction …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Destruction — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Destruction Información personal …   Wikipedia Español

  • Destruction (EP) — Destruction EP by Destruction Released February 26, 1994 …   Wikipedia

  • destruction — DESTRUCTION. s. f. Ruine totale. La destruction du Temple de Jérusalem. La destruction de Carthage. [b]f♛/b] Il se dit figurément De plusieurs choses. La destruction d une famille. La destruction d un État. Cela a causé la destruction de cette… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Destruction — De*struc tion, n. [L. destructio: cf. F. destruction. See {Destroy}.] 1. The act of destroying; a tearing down; a bringing to naught; subversion; demolition; ruin; slaying; devastation. [1913 Webster] The Jews smote all their enemies with the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Destruction — may refer to: Destruction Bay, Yukon, Canada Destruction (band), a German thrash metal band Destruction (DC Comics), one of the Endless in Neil Gaiman s comic book series The Sandman Destruction (film), a 1915 film starring Theda Bara The… …   Wikipedia

  • Destruction (EP) — Destruction Album par Destruction Sortie 1994 Durée 20:58 Genre Thrash Metal Label Brain Butcher Compact …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Destruction — Destruction …   Википедия

  • destruction — I noun abolition, annihilation, breaking down, collapse, consumption, decimation, decomposition, demolishment, demolition, devastation, dissolution, eradication, extinction, extirpation, nullification, obliteration, perdition, ruin, ruination,… …   Law dictionary

  • destruction — Destruction. s. f. v. Action de destruire. La destruction du Temple de Salomon. le Roy a ordonné la destruction des Temples des Calvinistes. Il se prend aussi fig. La destruction d une famille. la destruction d un Estat. cela a causé la… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • destruction — Destruction, Disperditio, Vastitas, Vastatio, Excidium. Destruction de quelque chose que ce soit, Pernicies. La destruction du pays, Patriae interitus. Destruction des moeurs, Morum populatio. Estre cause de la destruction d une ville,… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

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