as in wrecking
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of demolishing
Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
Education advocates and Democrats have condemned the move, and actually demolishing the agency would require an act of Congress.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 20 Mar. 2025
By 2006, Alcatel-Lucent, the building’s owner at the time, was considering demolishing the property.
—Celia Fernandez,raffi Paul, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
By some estimates, construction and building operations already account for 42% of global carbon emissions, which means nearly half of all emissions worldwide stem from constructing, operating, or demolishing buildings.
—Christopher Marquis, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
Frey and others have said demolishing a large parking ramp on the Hennepin side would improve river access.
—Nick Halter, Axios, 11 Mar. 2025
Construction crews in recent months have been working on demolishing the western portion of the old building, including the Goldsborough Gym.
—Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2025
On average, demolishing a blighted structure in Detroit costs $21,556.
—Camila Alvayay Torrejon, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2025
Corby’s steelworks was shut down and the local government was put in charge of demolishing and redeveloping its 680 acres.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2025
Verb
Since March 14, severe weather has left a trail of destruction, toppling trees, demolishing homes, and igniting wildfires, the Associated Press reported.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
Education advocates and Democrats have condemned the move, and actually demolishing the agency would require an act of Congress.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 20 Mar. 2025
By 2006, Alcatel-Lucent, the building’s owner at the time, was considering demolishing the property.
—Celia Fernandez,raffi Paul, CNBC, 20 Mar. 2025
By some estimates, construction and building operations already account for 42% of global carbon emissions, which means nearly half of all emissions worldwide stem from constructing, operating, or demolishing buildings.
—Christopher Marquis, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
Frey and others have said demolishing a large parking ramp on the Hennepin side would improve river access.
—Nick Halter, Axios, 11 Mar. 2025
Construction crews in recent months have been working on demolishing the western portion of the old building, including the Goldsborough Gym.
—Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2025
On average, demolishing a blighted structure in Detroit costs $21,556.
—Camila Alvayay Torrejon, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2025
Corby’s steelworks was shut down and the local government was put in charge of demolishing and redeveloping its 680 acres.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demolishing
Verb
-
But if enacted, some of the ideas proposed also risk destroying a nascent private sector and worsening the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.—
Nora Gámez Torres,
Miami Herald,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Online records show that Lamb was charged with homicide, kidnap-false imprisonment, evidence-destroying and procure for prostitute.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
That's because full destruction of the Iranian program is impossible at this point.—
Faisal Kutty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 May 2025
-
Despite trillions of dollars at stake, forest destruction—and the corporate role in driving it—is still widely treated as a peripheral issue.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Verb
-
The county’s preliminary plan calls for razing it, except for the portion where the supervisors hold their public meetings.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Jan. 2025
-
The changes appeared to respond to concerns about how razing the trees could reduce shade and carbon capture and storage.—
Lila Seidman,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
This prequel flashes back to a previous Christmas in Los Angeles, when their unintentional destruction of a Santa Claus parade balloon put the city on edge, wrecking the gang's plans for a massive Yuletide bank robbery.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
20 Dec. 2024
-
The vocalist’s sole concerns related to the natural environment, the animal kingdom and humankind’s responsibility for wrecking our only home.—
Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, the Court ruled that flag desecration is protected under the First Amendment.—
Matt Robison,
Newsweek,
25 Feb. 2025
-
For some fans, the changes may feel like a desecration.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Antonioni’s first color film is an audiovisual tour de force, with Carlo Di Palma’s stark images conjuring a world whose external ravages reflect and reinforce the soul-sickness of modern man, masterfully embodied by Vitti’s lead performance.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
6 May 2025
-
But social adaptation has also played a role: many people have come to rely on zero COVID to protect them from the ravages they are told have taken place elsewhere in the world.—
Yanzhong Huang,
Foreign Affairs,
7 Oct. 2022
Noun
-
The sense of ruination experienced by the organizers of those art spaces was something familiar to Quraiqi, who wrote on his Instagram this year that Israeli forces had destroyed his studio.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
20 Mar. 2025
-
Read: The mysterious, meteoric rise of Shein In the past several years, cultural awareness has grown about the reality of the fast-fashion business model, which relies on paying factory workers shockingly low wages and takes a multifaceted approach to furthering the ruination of the planet.—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Demolishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demolishing. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share