▪ I. destroy, v.
(dɪˈstrɔɪ)
Forms: 3–4 destrui-e(n, 3–5 -struy-e(n, -stru-e(n, (-stru, -striu), 4–5 -stry(e, 4–6 -stroye, (5 -stroȝe, 6 -strowe), 6–7 -stroie, 5– destroy; also 4 disstrie, dysstrye, 4–5 distruy(e, -truie, -truyȝe, -troȝe, -trou, 4–6 distroy(e, 4–7 distroie, 5 distrie, distroi, 5–6 dystroy(e, dis-, dystrow(e, -true, distrye.
[ME. destruy-en, etc., a. OF. destrui-re (mod.F. détruire = Pr. and Sp. destruir, It. distruggere):—late pop. L. *dēstrūgĕre, ppl. stem dēstrūct-, for cl. L. dēstruĕre, f. de- I. 6 + struĕre to pile up, construct.]
1. trans. To pull down or undo (that which has been built); to demolish, raze to the ground.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 242 Edwyne..destrude wyde aboute..Alle ys stedes, ver and ner, and to grounde caste. a 1300 Fall & Passion 85 in E.E.P. (1862) 15 He wolde destru temple an chirche. a 1300 Cursor M. 22348 (Cott.) Bath destrui þam tun and tur. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 25 Þi wallis al distried. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) v. 15 Þare was..a faire citee of Cristen men, but Sarzenes hase destruyd it. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxvii. 157 The cite of rome shulde haue be dystroyed. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 694 This kyng entended by mortall enuy The cite of Chestre to spoyle and distrye. 1526–34 Tindale John ii. 19 Iesus answered and sayd vnto them, destroye this temple, and in thre dayes I will reare it vp agayne. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 78 To undergoe the brunt of destroying Epicamido's whole campe. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 82 Another earthquake happened, by which several houses were destroyed. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 237 The English destroyed [the monastery] and half a century afterwards rebuilt it. |
b. Said of the action of water in dissolving and demolishing or washing away.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 317 For the nature of violent streames..[is to] destroy all that they debord upon. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 67 Like a Torrent, which carries away, and destroies all. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 201 The rain utterly destroys all the trenches. 1835 Cruise Digest (ed. 4) I. iii. ii. §24 If the banks of a river are destroyed by a sudden flood it is not waste. |
† 2. To lay waste, ravage, make desolate. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 388 A lefdi..mid hire uoan biset al abuten, and hire lond al destrued. c 1320 Sir Beues 2442 And al þe contre, saun doute, Þai distruede hit al aboute. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 120 Destroyyn a cuntre (or feeldis P.), depopulor, depredo, devasto. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 202/1 That same tyme attila destroyed Italye. 1584 Powell Lloyd's Cambria 11 Destroied the province of Chester. 1611 Bible Ezek. xxx. 11 The terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land. |
† b. To ruin (men), to undo in worldly estate.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 376 He destrude þat pouere volc, & nom of hem hys preye. 1621 Bolton Stat. Irel. 9 (an. 25 Hen. VI) The Irish enemies..destroy the common people by lodging upon them in the nights. |
3. To undo, break into useless pieces, or reduce into a useless form, consume, or dissolve (any material structure or object). (Now the leading sense.)
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 1120 Mi bodi destrud and leyd on bere. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxi. 20 An vnprudent man schal distrie it. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 212 For meny mannys malt we mys wolde distrye. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. India 245 That day we destroy'd about 1100 of their Skiffs, little and great. c 1790 Willock Voy. 154 Plundering and destroying whatever they can lay hands on. 1798 H. Skrine Two Tours Wales 155 A fire, by which most of the old houses were destroyed. 1828 Ambler Reports (ed. 2) I. 147 A deed which was charged in his bill to have been destroyed and lost by Roger. 1884 Gustafson Found. Death ii. (ed. 3) 25 All the ancient Egyptian works on alchemy..were ruthlessly destroyed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid v. 700 The vessels of Troy..are saved from flames that destroy. |
b. To render useless, to injure or spoil utterly.
| 1542 Boorde Dyetary xi. (1870) 260 God may sende a man good meate, but the deuyll may sende an euyll coke to dystrue it. 1555 Eden Decades 115 Locustes whiche destrowe the fieldes of corne. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 468 With Blites destroy my Corn. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 8 Shells assume every colour but blue; and that, sea-water..would be apt to destroy. 1806 J. Forbes Lett. France II. 60 The long drought and extreme heat have destroyed their vegetables. |
4. To put out of existence (living beings); to deprive of life; to slay, kill.
(Now chiefly said of war, pestilence, intemperance, etc., which destroy multitudes, also of the destruction of noxious animals, and of suicide (self-destruction).)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22133 (Cott.) First he sal do alle destru [MS. Edin. destriu, Gött. distrou] Þat halud was of ur lauerd iesu. a 1325 Prose Psalter li[i]. 5 Þer-for shal God destruen þe on ende. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 40 When antecrist is distroid all goed sall regne. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1318 Dido, These lordis..Wele me distroyen only for ȝoure sake. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. 20 The Bastarde..hade purposed to have distruyt Kynge Edwarde. 1535 Coverdale Bel & Dr. 26, I shal destroye this dragon without swearde or staff. a 1547 in Laneham's Lett. (Pref. 1871) 130 Haue youe drunkune any contagius drynke to dystrowe your chyld. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 291 Rat-Catchers..destroy the Rats and Mice as much as any Cats would. 1712 Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 368 Of whose destroying himself I have made mention. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 131, I was..going to destroy myself..in the height of my Despair. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 252 A deluge in Friezeland covered the whole coasts, and destroyed the greatest part of the inhabitants. 1839 T. Beale Hist. Sperm Whale 160 Those young bulls..are perhaps the most difficult to destroy. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 1 It had pleased the Immortals..to destroy Priam's innocent people. |
5. To bring to nought, put an end to; to do away with, annihilate (any institution, condition, state, quality, or thing immaterial).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 25239 (Cott.) Destru [v.rr. destruy, destroy] þou lauerd! wit pouste þin Þe mightes o þis wiþerwin. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4453 Þan sal he destroye cristen lawe. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxi. 22 [They] destroȝide [1388 distriede] the strengthe of the trost of it. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13240 All hir note of Nigromansy naitly distroyet. 1535 Coverdale Job xiv. 18 So destroyest thou the hope of man. 1612 Webster Dutchesse of Malfi iv. ii, So pity would destroy pity. 1714 S. Centlivre Wonder iv. i, One tender word destroys a lover's rage. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 193 ¶9 Every other enjoyment malice may destroy. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 17 To wait..would destroy the little chance we appeared to have. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Intellect Wks. (Bohn) I. 143 Silence is a solvent that destroys personality. 1893 Law Times XCIV. 603/2 He..had been heard to express a determination to destroy his life. |
† b. Math. To cancel, eliminate, cause to disappear. Obs.
| 1706 W. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 130 After the same manner any other Term in this..Equation may be destroyed. 1763 W. Emerson Meth. Increments 123, 2 series, where all the terms destroy one another except the first. |
c. Law. To nullify, invalidate, do away with.
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 353 A person who has only a trust estate, cannot..destroy a contingent remainder expectant on his estate. Ibid. V. 217 A power collateral to the land..cannot be barred or destroyed by a fine levied [etc.]. 1892 L. Goodeve Pers. Property (ed. 2) 361 The statutes above cited do not destroy the right. |
6. To counteract or neutralize the effect of; to render of no avail.
| 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 110 These contrary passions..do not necessarily destroy each other. 1759 W. Hillary Diseases Barbados 181 If they are of opposite and contrary Natures, they must at best only destroy each other. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) I. 61 The medicine has destroyed the malignity of the poison. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. vi. 253 A red glass..is red because..it destroys the shorter waves which produce the other colours. |
† 7. to destroy into or destroy to (reproducing perdere in gehennam of Vulgate): to consign or give over to perdition in. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 265 It is grett meruaile þat god..distroieþ not alle þis cursed peple to helle. 1526–34 Tindale Matt. x. 28 Which is able to destroye both soule and body into hell. [So Coverd., Cranm., Rhemish; Wyclif lese in to; Geneva & 1611 in.] |
Hence destroyed (dɪˈstrɔɪd) ppl. a., despoiled; ravaged; slain; ruined; reduced to a useless condition.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 123 Destroyyde, destructus, dissipatus. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 76 Being a Lady of faithfull memory to her destroyed husband. 1640 (title), England's Petition to their King; an Humble Petition of the distressed and almost destroyed subjects of England. 1801 G. S. Faber Horæ Mos. (1818) I. 82 The destroyed book of the Sibyl. 1821 Shelley Hellas 494 One cry from the destroy'd and the destroyer Rose. |
Add: [4.] b. To put (a sick or unwanted animal) to death deliberately and humanely.
| 1866 J. Gamgee Cattle Plague i. 141 The only sure and certain way to annihilate this virus is to destroy the animals which by their sickness indicate its presence. 1911 Coal Mines Act 1 & 2 Geo. V c. 50 Sched. 3 §16 The owner, agent, or manager shall..furnish a statement showing the number of horses..during the year..required to be destroyed in consequence of injury or disease. 1936 F. Bullock Handbk. for Vet. Surgeons (ed. 3) iv. 188 If it becomes necessary to destroy a horse below ground, the ‘Exit’ Humane Horse Killer..must be used. 1958 M. Bishop It's Dog's Life xi. 131 The dog can always be destroyed later if you feel he's not enjoying life. 1976 New Yorker 8 Mar. 105/2 When he could no longer get up in his stall..he was destroyed. 1986 Financial Times 21 June 1/5 Mr Jopling said radiation levels were now falling and he did not anticipate any need for destroying animals. |
▪ II. † deˈstroy, n. Obs. rare—1.
In 7 distroie.
[f. destroy v.]
Destruction.
| 1616 Lane Cont. Sqr.'s T. ix. 476 The sweete boy, wailinge most rufullie his frendes distroie. |