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The act of reducing to nothing, or nonexistence; or the act of destroying the form or combination of parts under which a thing exists, so that the name can no longer be applied to it; as, the annihilation of a corporation.

An agent that destroys offensive smells; a deodorizer.

Opposing or destroying contagion.

Tending to prevent the formation of urinary calculi, or to destroy them when formed. -- n.

Prevention of sepsis by excluding or destroying microorganisms.

A substance which prevents or retards putrefaction, or destroys, or protects from, putrefactive organisms; as, salt, carbolic acid, alcohol, cinchona.

Tending to interrupt or destroy social intercourse; averse to society, or hostile to its existence; as, antisocial principles.

The Destroyer; -- a name used (Rev. ix. 11) for the angel of the bottomless pit, answering to the Hebrew Abaddon.

Destroying the appetite, or suspending hunger.

nsect, which in the larval state often travels in great multitudes from field to field, destroying grass, grain, and other crops. The common army worm of the northern United States is Leucania unipuncta. The name is often applied to other related species, as the cotton worm.

The act or offense of grubbing up trees and bushes, and thus destroying the tickets or coverts of a forest. Spelman. Cowell.

n each side To make his balance true. Cowper. The order and balance of the country were destroyed. Buckle. English workmen completely lose their balance. J. S. Mill.

That which destroys life, esp. poison of a deadly quality. [Obs. except in combination, as in ratsbane, henbane, etc.]

d shot, consisting of a bar, with a ball or half ball at each end; -- formerly used for destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat. -- Bar sinister (Her.), a term popularly but erroneously used for baton, a mark of illegitimacy. See Baton. -- Bar tracery (Arch.), ornamental stonework resembling bars of iron twis…

goose (Anser segetum). -- Bean weevil (Zoöl.), a small weevil that in the larval state destroys beans. The American species in Bruchus fabæ. -- Florida bean (Bot.), the seed of Mucuna urens, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. -- Ignatius…

A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps away or destroys. [Archaic or Fig.] I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. Isa. xiv. 23. The housemaid with her besom. W. Irving.

e, to affect with some sudden violence, plague, calamity, or blighting influence, which destroys or causes to fail; to visit with a curse; to curse; to ruin; as, to blast pride, hopes, or character. I'll cross it, though it blast me. Shak. Blasted with excess of light. T. Gray.

One who, or that which, blasts or destroys.

Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to mar essentially; to frustrate; as, to blight one's prospects. Seared in heart and lone and blighted. Byron.

ugitive or for committing murder, or of money obtained from the sale of that which will destroy the purchaser.