• 1. to ruin; spoil; render useless
• 2. to tear down or demolish; break up; raze
• 3. to put an end to; do away with; extinguish
• 4. to kill or annihilate
• 5. to crush, subdue, or defeat
• 6. to be destructive or cause destruction
• 7. C13: from Old French destruire, from Latin d e struere to pull down, from de- + struere to pile up, build

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