'Demolish' definitions:
Definition of 'demolish'
From: WordNet
verb
Destroy completely; "the wrecking ball demolished the building"; "demolish your enemies"; "pulverize the rebellion before it gets out of hand" [syn: demolish, pulverize, pulverise]
verb
Humiliate or depress completely; "She was crushed by his refusal of her invitation"; "The death of her son smashed her" [syn: crush, smash, demolish]
verb
Defeat soundly; "The home team demolished the visitors" [syn: demolish, destroy]
Definition of 'Demolish'
From: GCIDE
- Demolish \De*mol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Demolished; p. pr. & vb. n. Demolishing.] [F. d['e]molir, 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.] 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. [1913 Webster]
- 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; a 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. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'demolish'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- annihilate,
- answer,
- answer conclusively,
- argue down,
- atomize,
- break,
- break into pieces,
- break to pieces,
- break up,
- burst,
- cleave,
- confound,
- confute,
- contradict,
- controvert,
- crack,
- crash,
- crunch,
- crush,
- cut to pieces,
- decimate,
- defeat,
- deny,
- destroy,
- devastate,
- diffuse,
- dilapidate,
- disassemble,
- disintegrate,
- dismantle,
- dismiss,
- dismount,
- disperse,
- dispose of,
- disprove,
- disrupt,
- end,
- finish,
- fission,
- floor,
- fragment,
- grind,
- knock down,
- level,
- make mincemeat of,
- mince,
- nonplus,
- overthrow,
- overturn,
- overwhelm,
- parry,
- pick to pieces,
- pull down,
- pull in pieces,
- pull to pieces,
- pulverize,
- put to silence,
- quash,
- raze,
- rebut,
- reduce to rubble,
- reduce to silence,
- refute,
- rend,
- ruin,
- scatter,
- settle,
- shatter,
- shiver,
- shut up,
- silence,
- smash,
- smash all opposition,
- smash up,
- splinter,
- split,
- squash,
- squelch,
- squish,
- subvert,
- sunder,
- suppress,
- take apart,
- take down,
- tear apart,
- tear down,
- tear to pieces,
- tear to shreds,
- tear to tatters,
- terminate,
- topple,
- total,
- unbuild,
- undermine,
- undo,
- unmake,
- upset,
- wrack,
- wrack up,
- wreck