destroying

verb

present participle of destroy
1
as in ruining
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of they practically destroyed the safe in order to get at the money inside their poor scores on the final exam destroyed any chance they might have had to pass the course

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ravaging
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action wildfires destroyed thousands of acres in forests across the state

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in killing
to deprive of life regrettably, the veterinarian was forced to destroy the injured horse

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of destroying Hurricane Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Saturday, spawning tornadoes, destroying buildings and downing power lines across the Gulf region. — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026 Israeli soldiers filmed themselves in high definition laughing, looting homes, destroying entire rows of buildings, humiliating civilians, even killing them. — Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026 Israel and the United States have hit thousands of Iranian targets, systematically destroying much of the country’s military infrastructure and killing many of its top leaders. — Justin Bronk, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026 Early that morning, an Argentinean naval tug had been bombed by the British, destroying its communications systems. — Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 Fire officials said the cause is still under investigation, but flames spread quickly, destroying everything inside. — John Lauritsen, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026 Ukraine's Eastern European neighbors such as Poland and Romania are resisting a push to allow grain to transit through them — even temporarily — due to concerns about a glut destroying demand for their own crops. — Jenni Reid, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026 Sign up for the newsletter When the rain does fall, Kabul’s hard, impermeable surfaces mean the water doesn’t replenish aquifers, but instead sweeps through the city as flash floods, destroying homes, killing people and rolling away. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026 Complicating matters is the fact that older sets of remains are often incomplete and/or modified for preservation, destroying vital forensic information in the process. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 5 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destroying
  1. ruining
  2. ravaging
  3. killing
  4. wrecking
  5. devastating
  6. slaying
  7. demolishing
  8. shattering
Verb
  • As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Seaver also allegedly threatened to start a podcast dedicated to ruining Parton’s image unless he was paid.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of ruining
Verb
  • My dad believed this outpatient clinic — which cost nearly $10,000 a week — could save him from the Stage 4 lung cancer ravaging his body.
    — Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The Grand Canyon has seen ravaging floods in the past week, sparking search and rescue missions and damaging nearly 40% of its sole water pipeline.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of ravaging
Verb
  • In a small Idaho town, a young mother is accused of killing her young twins.
    — Glenn Thrush Eric Schmitt Liam Stack Tim Balk, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Lack of preparation Eight weeks after the UAE withdrawal, the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of killing
Verb
  • Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick crossed the line while wrecking after Larson hit the wall trying to chase down Briscoe on the final turn.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Her first job as CEO in 2014 was to remake the century-old company’s corporate culture and regain customers’ trust following a tragic, reputation-wrecking ignition-switch crisis.
    — Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of wrecking
Verb
  • The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month.
    — Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Military force has imposed enormous costs on both Hamas and Iran, devastating their military facilities and killing their commanders.
    — NADIA SCHADLOW, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of devastating
Verb
  • Widdecombe’s slaying renewed concerns over security for politicians, which has been tightened in the past decade after two lawmakers were murdered.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Elsewhere, Zach Cregger’s fresh take on the Resident Evil franchise continues slaying in its third week in theaters.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of slaying
Verb
  • This is not the first time a coach in LAUSD has gotten into trouble trying to improve a facility, with the district issuing disciplinary action and demolishing the improvement because it was not authorized.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of demolishing
Verb
  • Surveillance video shows three vehicles circling the parking lot before a white Toyota Tacoma barrels through the storefront, shattering glass and sending employees running.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In fact, they aren’t made of glass at all; they’re made of polycarbonate, a plastic material that mimics the look of a wonky funhouse reflector, to prevent people from shattering the surface and using broken shards as weapons.
    — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of shattering

Browse Nearby Words

destroyers
destroying
destroys
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Destroying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destroying. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All