Demolish
verb ·3 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion. literally, transitive
"They demolished the old mill and put up four townhouses."
- 2 defeat soundly and humiliatingly wordnet
- 3 To defeat, refute, discredit, or consume utterly (as a theory, belief or opponent). figuratively, transitive
"The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce of shag in a single evening.' 'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'"
- 4 eat up completely, as with great appetite wordnet
- 5 To devour; to eat up transitive
"“Thanks, Raj.” Frank was too hungry to worry about Raj’s gob gloop on the bar, and happily demolished it in seconds."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 destroy completely wordnet
- 7 ruin or destroy wordnet
Example
More examples"They will demolish the building and replace it with a park."
Etymology
Attested since the 16th century; from Middle French demoliss-, the stem of some conjugated forms of the verb demolir (“to destroy”, “to tear down”), from Latin dēmōlior (“I tear down”). Displaced native Old English tōweorpan (literally “to throw apart”).