These words refer to the complete and usually forcible breaking up or damaging of something so that it is no longer recognizable or effective. Destroy is a general word with few overtones beyond its emphasis on force and thoroughness: the cyclone that destroyed dozens of houses in the town. Ruin is even more general, pointing only to the thoroughness of the damage; force, however, may not be involved and a single destructive act may not be at issue: manuscripts ruined by long exposure in the cold, damp cellar. Wreck suggests a battering action that breaks something up into an unusable mass or heap of fragments: companies that specialize in wrecking buildings. These three words, particularly, have a wide range of use beyond actual physical destruction. Here, destroy may suggest malevolent action that makes something impossible: escalation that destroyed all hopes for a negotiated peace. Ruin points to anything that spoils or mars something good or desirable: a thunderstorm that ruined our picnic. Wreck suggests the breaking down of some cohesive unity: the constant squabbling that finally wrecked their marriage.

Demolish and raze are generally applied to big or substantial things, such as buildings or other edifices. A building is demolished if smashed to pieces and razed if levelled to the ground. Demolish , unlike raze , is often used figuratively of the reduction of any complex whole to ruins : to demolish a theory with a few incisive comments. Raze is used almost invariably of buildings or their remains: to raze the upright timbers left in the aftermath of the fire.

Annihilate is the most extreme word in this list, and literally means to reduce to nothingness. As more commonly used, however, it denotes a severe degree of damage to a thing or person. An army may annihilate an enemy force by so damaging it as to render it incapable of further offensive or defensive action, but without literally removing all traces of its existence. A debater may be said to annihilate his opponent if he defeats him decisively.

Eradicate and uproot are etymological equivalents, but differ in their applications. To eradicate weeds is not only to destroy their visible parts but to pull them out by the roots and thus prevent their reappearance. Eradicate can mean simply to eliminate completely: the new vaccine eradicated all traces of the disease within three months: Uproot means to pull up by the roots, and is used figuratively as well as literally: trees uprooted by the hurricane; a family uprooted by the decision to build a highway through its property.

Exterminate , extinguish and extirpate often mean to destroy purposefully. Exterminate means to wipe out or kill in great numbers: to exterminate insects by spraying with DDT. Extinguish means to put out, as a fire; the word is also used metaphorically as a synonym for die, thus implying a comparison between life and a spark or flame: His life was finally extinguished by the onset of pneumonia. Extirpate refers to the rooting out or utter destruction of something: to extirpate a disease by destroying the organisms that cause it; to extirpate heresy within the church.