as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
the army's attack decimated the enemy's defenses beyond repair
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Recent Examples of decimating
Then on October 5, Israeli forces unleashed a volley of aerial and ground attacks on three neighborhoods in northern Gaza, decimating entire street blocks, compounding chronic hunger and leaving emergency crews unable to rescue civilians wounded by the onslaught.
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Abeer Salman, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
The storm stunned many by decimating communities far inland and long after landfall, hitting places rarely impacted by hurricanes directly.
—Justin McBrien / Made By History, TIME, 9 Oct. 2024
The Yersinia pestis bacteria from fleas carried by rodents wrought havoc across trade routes and port cities of the Old World, decimating human populations with plague.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024
His government seized thousands of farms and turned them over to ZANU–PF loyalists, decimating Zimbabwe’s once vibrant agricultural sector and triggering the kind of economic collapse rarely seen outside of a war zone.
—Tendai Biti, Foreign Affairs, 20 Aug. 2019
Abeer Salman, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024
The storm stunned many by decimating communities far inland and long after landfall, hitting places rarely impacted by hurricanes directly.
—Justin McBrien / Made By History, TIME, 9 Oct. 2024
The Yersinia pestis bacteria from fleas carried by rodents wrought havoc across trade routes and port cities of the Old World, decimating human populations with plague.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2024
His government seized thousands of farms and turned them over to ZANU–PF loyalists, decimating Zimbabwe’s once vibrant agricultural sector and triggering the kind of economic collapse rarely seen outside of a war zone.
—Tendai Biti, Foreign Affairs, 20 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decimating
Verb
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Federal agencies are prohibited from destroying or negatively changing critical habitat.Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
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The designation would also prohibit federal agencies from destroying or modifying that habitat.Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The project involves demolishing a great deal of real estate.David Moin, WWD, 11 Dec. 2024
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They were made by each other by reverently mythologizing their history while also irreverently demolishing it to make way for whatever was new and next, like a postwar building that’s periodically renovated to keep up with trends.David LaChapelle, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2024
Verb
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But when this tournament comes to an end, the Bulls either have to change course or risk wrecking their plans completely.Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 27 Nov. 2024
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But his vision of wrecking Israel with the help of Iran and other proxy forces backfired badly.Alexander Smith, NBC News, 17 Oct. 2024
Articles Related to decimating
Thesaurus Entries Near decimating
Cite this Entry
“Decimating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decimating. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
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