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