demolish

verb

de·​mol·​ish di-ˈmä-lish 

demolished; demolishing; demolishes

transitive verb

1

a

: tear down, raze

demolish a building

b

: to break to pieces : smash

His car was demolished in the accident.

2

a

: to do away with : destroy

a filibuster which would effectively demolish the issue

—Current Biography

… a performance so awkward and apathetic it instantly appeared to demolish any chance of restoring her declining career …

—Dave Itzkoff

b

: to strip of any pretense of merit or credence

demolished her debate opponents

demolish a stereotype

demolisher noun

demolishment

di-ˈmä-lish-mənt 

noun

Synonyms

• level
• pull down
• raze
• tear down
• unbuild

Examples of demolish in a Sentence

The old factory was demolished to make way for a new parking lot.

Tons of explosives were used to demolish the building.

The town hopes to restore the old theater rather than have it demolished.

The car was demolished in the accident.

They demolished the other team 51–7.

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2012, Texas Wesleyan went to the city’s historic and cultural landmarks commission seeking permission to demolish the home for further campus expansion, but were denied. —Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 June 2025

Goldschmidt has demolished the NL Central in his career, with a slash line of .291/.388/.527 in almost 550 games played. —Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025

His willingness to meet with Kim encouraged the Korean leader to stop testing intercontinental ballistic missiles, partially demolish his nuclear weapons test site, and offer to freeze the further development of his nuclear program. —John Delury, Foreign Affairs, 3 June 2025

The Cybertruck is to this design consensus what the current political regime is to liberal democracy: an attempt to demolish the status quo, with nothing to offer in its place but aggression and regression. —Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 1 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French demolir, extended stem demoliss- (with final conformed to earlier English verbs with the same ending, as nourish, perish), borrowed from Latin dēmōlīrī, dēmōlīre "to throw off, pull down, raze," from dē- de- + mōlīrī "to labor to bring about, strive, build, construct." probably derivative of mōlēs "large mass, massive structure, effort, exertion" — more at mole entry 4

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for demolish

• abolish
• gaulish
• polish
• smallish

Kids Definition

demolish

verb

de·​mol·​ish di-ˈmäl-ish 

a

: tear down, raze

b

: to break to pieces : smash 2 : to do away with : put an end to

demolisher noun

demolishment

-ish-mənt 

noun