demolish

CEFRB2

/dᵻˈmɒl.ɪʃ/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To destroy a building or structure completely.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To defeat, refute, discredit, or consume utterly (as a theory, belief or opponent).

Examples

  • It took three weeks to demolish the old house.

  • They will demolish the building and replace it with a park.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To devour; to eat up

  2. To destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion.

More examples

In context

  • They demolished the old mill and put up four townhouses.

  • The force of the explosion demolished one pair of piers and two spans of the bridge crashed down into the river on top of the barges.

  • The station did not have a long life, as it was demolished between 1884 and 1888 to make room for a new and larger station which forms part of the present Liverpool Exchange Station.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

They will blank the old bridge to make room for a wider one.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Attested since the 16th century; from Middle French demoliss-, the stem of some conjugated forms of the verb demolir (“to destroy”, “to tear down”), from Latin dēmōlior (“to tear down”). Displaced native Old English tōweorpan (literally “to throw apart”).