# destroy
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, Vulgar Latin *destrugō, from Classical Latin dēstruō, from dē- (“un-, de-”) + struō (“I build”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɪˈstɹɔɪ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔɪ
* Hyphenation: de‧stroy

### Verb

destroy (third-person singular simple present destroys, present participle destroying, simple past and past participle destroyed)
* (transitive, intransitive) To damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist.
    The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.
    Hooligans destroy unprovoked.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 2:19:Iesus answered, and said vnto them, Destroy this temple, and in three dayes I will raise it vp.
** 1972 November 5, Joan Lee Faust, “AROUND THE Garden”, in The New York Times‎:Repeated use of this type of [water] on plants results in deflocculation of the soil. Good quality soil consists of loose aggregates which provide natural aeration and ease of root run. Sodium accumulation in soil destroys this natural flocculation and causes the soil to pack.
** 2013, Steven McLaughlin, Clubland UK: On the Door in the Rave Era:Krav is a martial art of last resort that assumes no quarter and focuses purely on disarming, disabling and, if necessary, destroying your opponent.
* (transitive) To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
    Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate.
* (transitive) To put down or euthanize.
    Destroying a rabid dog is required by law.
* (transitive) To severely disrupt the well-being of (a person); ruin.
    Her divorce destroyed her; she had a nervous breakdown and was severely depressed for more than a year.
** 2005, Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide:Other girls in the foster home are eager to destroy her and get her kicked out of the place. It's a tough situation.
* (transitive, informal) To utterly defeat; to crush.
    Remember when Germany destroyed Brazil 7–1 in the World Cup?
** 2012 November 11, Sam Anderson, “The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Fairy-Tale Rise”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-10:Growing up, [Kevin] Durant told me, he was a sore loser. That all changed one day when he was 11, after he got destroyed by his father in a game of one on one in the driveway.
* (transitive, computing) To remove data.
    The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.
* (transitive, bodybuilding, slang, antiphrasis) To exhaust completely and thus recreate or build up.
    This exercise is going to destroy all parts of your shoulders.
* (transitive, slang, vulgar) To penetrate sexually in an aggressive way.
    She got destroyed by her lover on the carpet.
* (transitive, US, slang) To sing a song extremely poorly.
** 2001, Jeff Nathanson, Rush Hour 2‎, New Line Cinema:JAMES CARTER: The man's destroying a classic!
* (transitive, slang) To eat food quickly, hungrily or completely.
    I could destroy some wings right now.

#### Synonyms

See Thesaurus:destroy.
* annihilate
* break
* demolish
* kill
* ruin
* waste

#### Antonyms

* build
* construct
* create
* make
* raise
* repair

#### Derived terms

* destroyability
* destroyable
* destroyal
* destroyed jeans
* destroyer
* destroyer escort
* destroying angel
* destroyingly
* downstroy
* redestroy
* undestroy
* undestroyed

#### Related terms

* destruct
* destructible
* destruction
* destructive

#### Translations

Akkadian: 𒄢 (abātu)
Aklanon: guba'
Albanian: shkatërroj (sq)
Arabic: دَمَّرَ (dammara)
Egyptian Arabic: روح (rawwaḥ), خرب (ḵarrab)
Armenian: ոչնչացնել (hy) (očʻnčʻacʻnel)
Azerbaijani: məhv etmək, dağıtmaq (az)
Belarusian: знішча́ць impf (zniščácʹ), ні́шчыць impf (níščycʹ), зні́шчыць pf (zníščycʹ), руйнава́ць impf (rujnavácʹ), зруйнава́ць pf (zrujnavácʹ)
Breton: freuzañ (br)
Bulgarian: унищожа́вам (bg) impf (uništožávam), унищожа́ pf (uništožá), разруша́вам (bg) impf (razrušávam), разруша́ (bg) pf (razrušá)
Catalan: destruir (ca)
Cebuano: guba
Central Huishui Hmong: kom puas rau
Cherokee: ᎠᏲᏍᏙᏗ (ayosdodi)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 銷毀 / 销毁 (zh) (xiāohuǐ), 摧毀 / 摧毁 (zh) (cuīhuǐ), 破壞 / 破坏 (zh) (pòhuài), 毀壞 / 毁坏 (zh) (huǐhuài)
Choctaw: nasholichi
Czech: ničit (cs) impf, zničit (cs) pf
Danish: ødelægge (da)
Dutch: vernietigen (nl), vernielen (nl), verwoesten (nl), kapot maken, slopen (nl)
Egyptian: (sksk)
Esperanto: ekstermi (eo), detrui (eo)
Estonian: hävitama
Evenki: эвми (əwmi)
Finnish: tuhota (fi), hävittää (fi)
French: détruire (fr)
Middle French: gaster, destruire, mehaignier
Old French: gaster, destruire, mehaignier
Friulian: distruzi, distrugi
Galician: destruír (gl)
Georgian: განადგურება (ganadgureba), მოსპობა (mosṗoba), დაქცევა (dakceva), დანგრევა (dangreva)
German: zerstören (de), vernichten (de), (colloquial) kaputtmachen (de)
Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (qistjan)
Greek: καταστρέφω (el) (katastréfo)
Ancient: ἀπόλλυμι (apóllumi), ὄλλυμι (óllumi), ἀείρω (aeírō), ἀϊστόω (aïstóō), πέρθω (pérthō), πορθέω (porthéō), ἀναιρέω (anairéō), ἀναλίσκω (analískō), λύω (lúō), διαλύω (dialúō), καταλύω (katalúō), ὀλέκω (olékō), φθείρω (phtheírō), ἀποφθείρω (apophtheírō), διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō), ἐκφθείρω (ekphtheírō), καταφθείρω (kataphtheírō), φθίω (phthíō), καταχράομαι (katakhráomai)
Hawaiian: luku
Hebrew: הָרַס (he) (harás)
Higaonon: naguba
Hindi: नष्ट करना (naṣṭ karnā), नाश करना (nāś karnā), बर्बाद करना (barbād karnā)
Hungarian: megsemmisít (hu), pusztít (hu), elpusztít (hu), tönkretesz (hu), szétrombol (hu)
Icelandic: eyðileggja (is), rústa, skemma (is)
Ido: destruktar (io)
Irish: slad (ga), loit
Italian: distruggere (it), annichilare (it)
Japanese: 破壊する (ja) (はかいする, hakai suru), 壊す (ja) (こわす, kowasu), 潰す (ja) (つぶす, tsubusu), 破る (ja) (やぶる, yaburu)
Khmer: កំទេច (kɑmtɨc), បំផ្លាញ (km) (bɑmphlaañ)
Korean: 파괴하다 (ko) (pagoehada), 말살하다 (ko) (malsalhada), 부수다 (ko) (busuda)
Kumyk: дагъытмакъ (dağıtmaq)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: têkşikandin f
Lao: ທໍາລາຍ (tham lāi)
Latgalian: nycynuot, iznycynuot, propuļdeit
Latin: populor, dēleō (la), auferō (la), aboleō (la), abolefaciō
Latvian: iznīcināt
Lithuanian: sunaikinti
Livonian: nītsiņtõ
Macedonian: уништува impf (uništuva), уништи pf (uništi)
Malay: musnah (ms)
Manchu: ᡝᡶᡠᠯᡝᠮᠪᡳ (efulembi)
Maori: whakakorekore, hoepapa, whakamōtī, kōpenupenu, whakangawhi, whakangahi, kaiauru, whakahotu, hoepapa, urupatu, whakamōtī, whakapakaru, anea
Mirandese: çtruir, çtroçar
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: суйтгэх (sujtgex), сүйтгэх (mn) (süjtgex)
Nanai: хэпули- (hepuli-)
Ngazidja Comorian: hwangamiza
Norman: dêtruithe
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ødelegge (no)
Ottoman Turkish: ییقمق (yıkmak), بوزمق (bozmak)
Persian: از بین بردن (az beyn bordan)
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤃 (ʾbd)
Polish: niszczyć (pl) impf, zniszczyć (pl) pf, rujnować (pl) impf, zrujnować (pl) pf
Portuguese: destruir (pt), estraçalhar (pt), arruinar (pt), destroçar (pt), detonar (pt)
Romanian: distruge (ro), nimici (ro)
Russian: уничтожа́ть (ru) impf (uničtožátʹ), уничто́жить (ru) pf (uničtóžitʹ), разруша́ть (ru) impf (razrušátʹ), разру́шить (ru) pf (razrúšitʹ)
Sanskrit: नाशयति (sa) (nāśayati)
Scots: cannoch
Scottish Gaelic: dì-làraich
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: уништа́вати impf, у̀ништити pf
Roman: uništávati (sh) impf, ùništiti (sh) pf
Slovak: ničiť impf, zničiť pf, znehodnotiť pf
Slovene: uničevati impf, uničiti (sl) pf
Sotho: a timetse
Spanish: destruir (es), romper (es), destrozar (es), escocherar (es) (Costa Rica), profligar (es)
Sumerian: 𒋗𒅆𒌨 (ŠU.ḪUL)
Swahili: -haribu (sw)
Swedish: förstöra (sv), ödelägga (sv)
Tagalog: sirain, wasakin
Tajik: нест кардан (nest kardan)
Thai: ทำลาย (th) (tam-laai)
Tocharian B: näk-, kärst-
Turkish: yok etmek (tr), mahvetmek (tr)
Ugaritic: 𐎕𐎎𐎚 (ṣmt)
Ukrainian: ни́щити (uk) impf (nýščyty), зни́щувати impf (znýščuvaty), зни́щити pf (znýščyty), руйнува́ти impf (rujnuváty), зруйнува́ти pf (zrujnuváty), розва́люватити impf (rozváljuvatyty), розвали́ти pf (rozvalýty)
Urdu: برباد کرنا (barbād karnā)
Uzbek: yiqmoq (uz), yoʻq qilmoq
Vietnamese: huỷ hoại (vi), phá hoại (vi), phá huỷ (vi)
Walloon: distrure (wa)
Welsh: dinistrio (cy)
Yiddish: חרובֿ מאַכן (khorev makhn) :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Anagrams

* stroyed