Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Destroy

De·stroy′ (dē·stroi′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Destroyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Destroying.] [OE. destroien, destruien, destrien, OF. destruire, F. détruire, fr. L. destruere, destructum; de + struere to pile up, build. See Structure.] 1. To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish.

But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. Ex. xxxiv. 13.

2. To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume.

I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation. Jer. xii. 17.

3. To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill.

If him by force he can destroy, or, worse, By some false guile pervert. Milton.

Syn. — To demolish; lay waste; consume; raze; dismantle; ruin; throw down; overthrow; subvert; desolate; devastate; deface; extirpate; extinguish; kill; slay. See Demolish.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.