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One who destroys, ruins, kills, or desolates.

The act of destroying; a tearing down; a bringing to naught; subversion; demolition; ruin; slaying; devastation. The Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction. Esth. ix. 5. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. Shak. Destruction…

Causing destruction; tending to bring about ruin, death, or devastation; ruinous; fatal; productive of serious evil; mischievous; pernicious; -- often with of or to; as, intemperance is destructive of health; evil examples are destructive to the morals of youth. Time's destructive power. Wordsworth. Destructive distill…

The quality of destroying or ruining. Prynne.

asmania (Dasyurus, or Diabolus, ursinus). -- To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low]

replied the Prince [William of Orange] " by which I can be sure never to see my country's ruin, -- I will die in the last ditch." Hume (Hist. of Eng. ). -- To die out, to cease gradually; as, the prejudice has died out.

To bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin, by misuse or through neglect; to destroy the fairness and good condition of; -- said of a building. If the bishop, parson, or vicar, etc., dilapidates the buildings, or cuts down the timber of the patrimony. Blackstone.

Decayed; fallen into partial ruin; injured by bad usage or neglect. A deserted and dilapidated buildings. Cooper.

The act of dilapidating, or the state of being dilapidated, reduced to decay, partially ruined, or squandered. Tell the people that are relived by the dilapidation of their public estate. Burke.

To frustrate; to beat; to ruin. [Low] To dish out.

re united; to break in pieces; as, disjointed columns; to disjoint and edifice. Some half-ruined wall Disjointed and about to fall. Longfellow.

Condition fitted to dismay; ruin. Spenser.

prudence. Burke. The burden . . . disordered the aids and auxiliary rafters into a common ruin. Jer. Taylor.

Destruction of anything by the separation of its parts; ruin. To make a present dissolution of the world. Hooker.

l . . . do our best to gain their assent." Jowett (Thucyd.). -- To do one's business, to ruin one. [Colloq.] Wycherley. -- To do one shame, to cause one shame. [Obs.] -- To do over. (a) To make over; to perform a second time. (b) To cover; to spread; to smear. "Boats . . . sewed together and done over with a kind of…

One of the dog days. Dogday cicada (Zoöl.), a large American cicada (C. pruinosa), which trills loudly in midsummer.

Ruin; death. This is the day of doom for Bassianus. Shak.

A sudden descent from rank or state, reputation or happiness; destruction; ruin. Dire were the consequences which would follow the downfall of so important a place. Motley.

Fallen; ruined. Carew.

From a higher to a lower condition; toward misery, humility, disgrace, or ruin. And downward fell into a groveling swine. Milton.