destruction
nouncommon in dialogue
- //dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən//
- /[dɪsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃən] ~ [dɪsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃn̩]/
- /[dɪsˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷʌkʃən] ~ [dɪsˈt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷʌkʃn̩]/
- //dəsˈtɹʌkʃən//
- /[dəsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃən] ~ [dəsˈtɹ̝̊ʷʌkʃn̩]/
The act of destroying.
noun
- 1
The act of destroying.
The destruction of the condemned building will take place at noon.
It may be that a free society as we have known it carries in itself the forces of its own destruction, that once freedom has been achieved it is taken for granted and ceases to be valued, and that the free growth of ideas which is the essence of a free society will bring about the destruction of the foundations on which it depends.
About 1500 B.C., however, a powerful earthquake caused widespread destruction, and thereafter there were major changes. An earlier script, undeciphered, but known as Linear A, was replaced by the Greek Linear B.
- 2
The results of a destructive event.
Amid the seemingly endless destruction, a single flower bloomed.
If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.
- 3
A group of feral cats.
A group of wild cats is called a destruction.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English destruccioun, from Old French destrucion, from Latin dēstructiō, dēstructiōnem.
Forms
- plural
- destructions