DEMOLISH
demolish, destroy
(verb) defeat soundly and humiliatingly; “The home team demolished the visitors”
devour, demolish, down, consume, go through
(verb) eat up completely, as with great appetite; “Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal”; “The teenagers demolished four pizzas among them”
demolish, pulverize, pulverise
(verb) destroy completely; “the wrecking ball demolished the building”
demolish
(verb) ruin or destroy; “his book demolishes an old myth”; “demolished my reputation”; “the professor demolished the student’s argument”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
demolish (third-person singular simple present demolishes, present participle demolishing, simple past and past participle demolished)
To destroy.
(transitive, figuratively) To defeat or consume utterly (as a theory, belief or opponent).
Synonyms
• See also destroy
Anagrams
• modelish
Source: Wiktionary
De*mol"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Demolished; p. pr. & vb. n.
Demolishing.] Etym: [F. démolir, fr. L. demoliri, p. p. demolitus;
de- + moliri to set a thing in motion, to work, construct, from moles
a huge mass or structure. See Mole a mound, and Finish.]
Definition: To throw or pull down; to raze; to destroy the fabric of; to
pull to pieces; to ruin; as, to demolish an edifice, or a wall.
I expected the fabric of my book would long since have been
demolished, and laid even with the ground. Tillotson.
Syn.
– To Demolish, Overturn, Destroy, Dismantle, Raze. That is
overturned or overthrown which had stood upright; that is destroyed
whose component parts are scattered; that is demolished which had
formed a mass or structure; that is dismantled which is stripped of
its covering, as a vessel of its sails, or a fortress of its
bastions, etc.; that is razed which is brought down smooth, and level
to the ground. An ancient pillar is overturned or overthrown as the
result of decay; as city is destroyed by an invasion of its enemies;
a monument, the walls of a castle, a church, or any structure, real
or imaginary, may be demolished; a fortress may be dismantled from
motives of prudence, in order to render it defenseless; a city may be
razed by way of punishment, and its ruins become a memorial of
vengeance.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition