demolish
pronunciation
How to pronounce demolish in British English:
UK [dɪˈmɒlɪʃ]
How to pronounce demolish in American English:
US [dɪˈmɑːlɪʃ]
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- Verb:
- destroy completely
- humiliate or depress completely
- defeat soundly
Word Origin
- demolish
- demolish: [16] To demolish something is etymologically to ‘deconstruct’ it. The word comes from demoliss-, the stem of Old French demolir, which in turn came from Latin dēmōlīrī ‘throw down, demolish’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix dē-, denoting reversal of a previous condition, and mōlīrī, which among other things meant ‘build, construct’. This was a derivative of mōles ‘mass, huge mass, massive structure’ (source of English mole ‘harbour wall’ and molecule).=> mole, molecule
- demolish (v.)
- 1560s, from Middle French demoliss-, present participle stem of démolir "to destroy, tear down" (late 14c.), from Latin demoliri "tear down," from de- "down" (see de-) + moliri "build, construct," from moles (genitive molis) "massive structure" (see mole (n.3)). Related: Demolished; demolishing.
Example
- 1. Penalties could include big fines or an order to demolish the plants .
- 2. Recently , thousands of residents of a town in southwestern nigeria have protested plans to demolish their homes after obasanjo acquired their land .
- 3. Mr knee and colleagues demolish the business arguments derived from these banalities .
- 4. It is too much to expect mr najib to demolish his father 's policy in one go . But his apparent willingness to confront vested interests in his party bodes well for his leadership .
- 5. In the end , the decision to demolish the house was likely taken by pakistan 's powerful inter-services intelligence directorate military spy agency .