as in wrecking
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1
as in destroying
to destroy (as a building) completely by knocking down or breaking to pieces
developers demolished the old warehouse to make room for the new shopping mall
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ruining
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
most of the buildings in the town had been demolished in the bombing raid
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3
as in shattering
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive
terrorists used a powerful pipe bomb to demolish the concrete wall around the compound
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Recent Examples of demolishing
Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 28 Aug. 2025
John Lomax V, Houston Chronicle, 7 Jan. 2026
Fully reopening Leetsdale Drive is contingent on demolishing parts of the charred apartment complex that are still standing, Murphy said.
—Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 6 Jan. 2026
The proposal includes demolishing the restaurant building that remains and constructing a one-floor, 229,000-square-foot commercial retail space and additional buildings on six outlot parcels to be added later, according to village reports.
—Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
In 2025, the Connecticut Department of Transportation won the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards grand prize for its emergency project demolishing, and then rebuilding, the Fairfield Avenue Bridge over I-95 in Norwalk in 2024.
—Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2026
Phase 1, tentatively scheduled for June 2026 to August 2027, includes demolishing several buildings, upgrading library fire alarms and readying the central campus for construction.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec. 2025
In the weeks after Vigar’s death, Wingate & Finchley set about demolishing the concrete perimeter wall where the player was left with catastrophic brain injuries on a Saturday afternoon in north London in late September.
—Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Even back in Lucy's home of Vault 33 and its sister, Vault 32, conflict is brewing, demolishing Hank MacLean's views of a world in need of saving by Vault-Tec.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 16 Dec. 2025
The military showed us a map of Hamas tunnel routes Israeli forces are still discovering and demolishing in the area.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025
Noun
In the filing, Omni Hotels outlined a five-year timeframe that would get the site fully designed, permitted and prepared for construction, noting construction would not start until at least five years after the demolishing of the buildings on site.
—Verb
The move came after the Office of County Administration released December cost estimates for demolishing the building and renovating it.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for demolishing
Noun
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The coaches also decided King’s wrecking-ball approach was effective.—
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The addresses listed in the wrecking permits border the east of the truck plant where Ford makes its iconic Super Duty trucks, Expedition SUVs and luxury Lincoln Navigators.—
Verb
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By the 1960s, gas flares and untreated waste spillage were destroying their forests.—
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And there is a risk of the parasites becoming dormant for years before reactivating and destroying a new cornea.—
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
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The video then shows the man asking if the situation was ruining Kaleel's Christmas.—
Verb
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Yet for all of Malinin’s athleticism and his Beamonesque ability to take flight what has been most telling in what has already been a world record-shattering Olympic season has been the maturity of his skating, the willingness to take emotional risks in his programs.—
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Bana and Rocha were among the 615 participants in the 27th annual Waukegan Polar Bear Plunge on Thursday at the Waukegan Municipal Beach, shattering the record of 540 set in 2024, and collectively raising more than $20,000 for Special Recreation Services of Northern Lake County.—
Noun
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Since the boycott, PEN has donated to Palestinian aid organizations, highlighted writers and journalists who have been targeted and killed by Israel, and released a report on the deliberate destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage.—
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Consumers and retailers should destroy affected products and not return them, as Gold Star will issue refunds with proof of destruction.—
Verb
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In a region that defaults to razing the old for the new, giving a defunct terminal a second life is a sign that some Gulf landmarks are worth preserving.—
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Mainstream opinion viewed the devastation of Gaza—the killing of more than 68,000 Palestinians, razing of entire cities and villages, and preparations for mass expulsions—as justified responses to Hamas’s atrocities.—
Verb
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As Hodges stood there, scared and vulnerable, the man grabbed his baton and bashed him on the head with it, rupturing his lip and smashing his skull.—
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The man accused of smashing windows on Vice President JD Vance's home with a hammer is facing separate prosecutions in state and federal court.—
Verb
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Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.—
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Somehow, this new sensation emitted an awareness of the magnitude in which skateboarding would warp my life, which only ratcheted up the anxiety of blowing it.—
Cite this Entry
“Demolishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demolishing. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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