How to Use destroy in a Sentence

destroy

verb
Definition of destroynext
Synonyms for destroynext
  • The bomb blast destroyed the village.
  • The disease destroys the body's ability to fight off illness.
  • The dog had to be destroyed since its owner could not prevent it from attacking people.
  • All the files were deliberately destroyed.
  • Eventually our problems with money destroyed our marriage.
  • Seoul is destroyed, and maybe the rest of South Korea, too.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2023
  • One of the 10 guns had been destroyed, his lawyer Kate Mangles told the court last month.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 7 Dec. 2023
  • The first item of their agenda was to defend their country and to destroy Hamas.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2023
  • The two never spoke again, and Albin destroyed all the letters Reed had sent her over the years.
    — Will Hermes, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2023
  • That would destroy me to leave my children at this moment in their lives.
    — Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 18 Dec. 2023
  • The freeze damaged and destroyed a number of the early flowers.
    — Devon M. Sayers, CNN, 5 June 2023
  • Cars all along the street completely destroyed as well.
    — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2023
  • Scores of businesses were damaged, and the town’s Little League field and a new skate park were destroyed.
    — Lisa Rathke, Anchorage Daily News, 12 July 2023
  • The accident destroyed a large section of the bridge, killing a total of 35 people.
    — Zachary Folk, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The incident that followed would be the first of many to slowly destroy what was then Bentonville.
    — Randy McCrory, Arkansas Online, 3 Aug. 2023
  • And that is just so revealing, given how many lives have been destroyed by this whole tale.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 25 July 2023
  • The cancer grows quickly and can impact and destroy healthy tissue.
    — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024
  • Has her trust in Fury really been destroyed that much at that moment?
    — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 26 June 2023
  • Bringing the charges in any other district might well have delayed or even destroyed the case.
    — Gabriel J. Chin, The Conversation, 21 June 2023
  • The local fire chief said most of the missing are believed to be accounted for and the tornado may have destroyed about 200 homes.
    — Travis Caldwell, CNN, 16 June 2023
  • The bullet entered behind the younger woman’s left knee and destroyed her quadriceps.
    — Arelis R. Hernández, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2023
  • Most of the boats acquired by the harbor are not worth refurbishing and so they are destroyed, Ravitch said.
    — Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Of those doze bottles, one was destroyed by an earthquake in Japan in 2011, making this whisky even more of a rarity.
    — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2023
  • At least 115 people have been declared dead and thousands of structures have been destroyed.
    — Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2023
  • The fires ravaged Maui last week, destroying the historic town of Lahaina.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2023
  • Sometimes an entire net is destroyed when fouled deep in debris.
    — Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The defendant would be required to transfer all of the images to Jane Doe, and then permanently delete and destroy any copies of the images.
    — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Harry believes reporters used burner phone and destroyed records and that there's been a cover up of the hacking scandal.
    — Staff and Wire Reports., USA TODAY, 7 June 2023
  • Surrounding the area are buildings covered in dust and either destroyed in whole or in part as a result of the blast that also left a massive crater.
    — TIME, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Red blood cells typically have a 120-day lifespan before the body destroys them.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'destroy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: