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Antonyms for destroy


Grammar : Verb
Spell : dih-stroi
Phonetic Transcription : dɪˈstrɔɪ



Definition of destroy

Origin :
  • early 13c., from Old French destruire (12c., Modern French détruire) "destroy, ravage, lay waste," from Vulgar Latin *destrugere (source of Italian distruggere), refashioned (influenced by destructus), from Latin destruere "tear down, demolish," literally "un-build," from de- "un-, down" (see de-) + struere "to pile, build" (see structure (n.)). Related: Destroyed; destroying.
  • verb demolish, devastate
Example sentences :
  • Nothing but the hand of man could destroy what he was destroying; but his hand shrank not, and it was done.
  • Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
  • It is a crime which, if persisted in, will destroy the Government itself.
  • Extract from : « United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches » by Various
  • They want their own poor way, and destroy the work of their hands by the sound of their tongues.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • Some of us are only fit to destroy what is yet worse than ourselves.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • To treat a child wholly as an adult would be to mock and destroy it.
  • Extract from : « A Treatise on Parents and Children » by George Bernard Shaw
  • If I get the wrong stuff in my eyes it will destroy them permanently.
  • Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
  • To beautify it is to take away its character of complexity—it is to destroy it.
  • Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
  • Greed—mere greed—for I do not need this money which may destroy us all!
  • Extract from : « Fair Margaret » by H. Rider Haggard
  • Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the virtue of maids.
  • Extract from : « The Devil's Dictionary » by Ambrose Bierce
  • Their leader wished to destroy Slade's whole force at one stroke.
  • Extract from : « The Rock of Chickamauga » by Joseph A. Altsheler

Synonyms for destroy

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019