Word choice · C1
Demolish, dismantle, raze, wreck, devastate
Demolish is knocking a building down on purpose. Dismantle is taking something apart piece by piece, so it could in principle go back together. Raze means nothing is left standing. Wreck damages something beyond use. Devastate is severe damage across a whole area or a whole person. Gut leaves only the shell.
Which word, and why
- demolish
knock a building down deliberately
To pull down a structure on purpose; figuratively, to destroy an argument.
demolish the tower block · demolish an argument
- dismantle
take apart piece by piece
To take a machine, structure or system apart in an orderly way.
dismantle the scaffolding · dismantle the welfare system
- razeformal
nothing is left standing
To destroy a town or building completely, to ground level.
razed to the ground · raze the village
- wreck
damaged beyond use
To damage something so badly it can no longer function.
wreck the car · wreck his chances · a wrecked marriage
- ruin
spoiled completely — often something abstract
To spoil something so that its value or pleasure is gone.
ruin the evening · ruin his reputation · financially ruined
- devastate
severe damage across a whole area or person
To destroy a large area, or to overwhelm someone emotionally.
devastated by floods · utterly devastated
- obliterateformal
no trace remains at all
To remove something so completely that no evidence of it is left.
obliterate all trace · obliterated by the blast
- sabotage
deliberate damage, to make something fail
To damage something on purpose so that it does not work.
sabotage the talks · sabotage the brakes
- flatten
knocked flat by force
To destroy buildings by knocking them level with the ground.
flattened by the storm · flatten the block
- gut
the inside is destroyed; the shell survives
To destroy the interior of a building, usually by fire.
gutted by fire · the factory was gutted
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The council will the two tower blocks next spring.