demolish

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 (“I tear down”). Displaced native Old English tōweorpan (literally “to throw apart”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dəˈmɒl.ɪʃ/

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demolish (third-person singular simple present demolishes, present participle demolishing, simple past and past participle demolished) (transitive)

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

   They demolished the old mill and put up four townhouses.

   • 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: The Severn Bridge disaster”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:

     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.

   • 2020 May 6, Graeme Pickering, “Borders Railway: time for the next step”, in Rail, page 53:

     At Hawick, nothing remains of the station, and the viaduct over the River Teviot is one of a number of bridges that were demolished or removed following closure.

2. (figuratively) To defeat, refute, discredit, or consume utterly (as a theory, belief or opponent).
   • 1992, Robert Rankin, The Antipope, page 68:

     The Captain folded his brow into a look of intense perplexity. 'You seem exceedingly spry for a man who demolished an entire bottle of brandy and better part of an ounce of shag in a single evening.'
     'And very nice too,' said the tramp. 'Now as to breakfast?'

   • 2011 October 2, Kevin Core, “Fulham 6 - 0 QPR”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Andrew Johnson scored a hat-trick as Fulham demolished London rivals Queens Park Rangers to win their Premier League fixture of the season.

   • 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:

     The table opposite me is occupied by a young couple with a table full of alcohol and snacks. In a role reversal, he is drinking Smirnoff Ice while she steadily demolishes a six-pack of lager!

3. To devour; to eat up
   • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     “Thanks, Raj.” Frank was too hungry to worry about Raj’s gob gloop on the bar, and happily demolished it in seconds.

• See also Thesaurus:destroy

• demo

• demolition

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “demolish”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• modelish