Destroyer

//dəˈstɹɔɪ.ɚ// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    That which destroys something.

    "But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels."

  2. 2
    a small fast lightly armored but heavily armed warship wordnet
  3. 3
    A small, fast warship with light gun armament, smaller than a cruiser, but bigger than a frigate. historical
  4. 4
    a person who destroys or ruins or lays waste to wordnet
  5. 5
    A larger warship with guided missile armament, usually intended for air defence or anti-ship roles. Often, but not always, larger than a frigate and smaller than a cruiser.
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  1. 6
    A larger warship with guided missile armament, usually intended for air defence or anti-ship roles. Often, but not always, larger than a frigate and smaller than a cruiser.; A starship of comparable role. broadly

Synonyms

All synonyms
animalannihilatoranthropophagitearsonistbanebarbarian

Example

More examples

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English destroyour, destroyere; By surface analysis, destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.

Related phrases

command destroyercommerce destroyerdestroyer escortdestroyer leaderdestroyer minesweeperflag destroyermealybug destroyerself-destroyertank destroyerarmy shipdestructive persongod shiva

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.