destruct
Cause total ruin
Destruct means to deliberately destroy, typically used of missiles, rockets, or spacecraft that are intentionally demolished—often by remote command when a launch goes wrong: Ground control issued the order to destruct the rocket.
The word is technical jargon, a back-formation from destruction.
Outside aerospace contexts, destroy is the standard verb.
Violent collapse inward
- cave-inUnderground passage collapse
- crumbleFragment gradually
- toppleCause to fall
- tumbleUncontrolled rolling descent
shatter · fracture · rupture · disintegration · breakdown · buckle · fail · giveaway
Destroy all traces of
- annihilateDestroy completely, leaving nothing
- exterminateDestroy completely, every one
- decimateDestroy a large portion
- devastateDestroy thoroughly and completely
pulverize · vaporize · incinerate · disintegrate · liquidate · neutralize · unmake · wipeout
Violent collapse inward
- bulldozerBladed vehicle pushing earth
- razingComplete structural demolition
- teardownDeliberate structure removal
- dismantleSeparate into parts
deconstruct · dynamite · jackhammer · sledgehammer · excavator · unbuild · gut · disassemble
Destroyed vessel or vehicle
- vandalizeDeliberately damage property
- defaceDamage a surface's appearance
- disableRemove functional capacity
- undermineWeaken by stealth
subvert · tamper · damage · cripple · incapacitate · explosive · selfdestruct · destabilize
Process of declining quality
- degradationDecline in condition
- dilapidationState of ruin
- disrepairPoor maintained condition
- atrophyWasting from disuse
rot · corrosion · erosion · blight · neglect · abandonment · dereliction · spoilage
implosion
Violent collapse inward
tumble · shatter · fracture · rupture · disintegration · breakdown · buckle · fail · giveaway · splinter
obliterate
Destroy all traces of
- annihilateDestroy completely, leaving nothing
- exterminateDestroy completely, every one
- decimateDestroy a large portion
devastate · pulverize · vaporize · incinerate · disintegrate · liquidate · neutralize · unmake · wipeout · eradicate
implosion
Violent collapse inward
- bulldozerBladed vehicle pushing earth
- razingComplete structural demolition
- teardownDeliberate structure removal
dismantle · deconstruct · dynamite · jackhammer · sledgehammer · excavator · unbuild · gut · disassemble · topple
wreck
Destroyed vessel or vehicle
- vandalizeDeliberately damage property
- defaceDamage a surface's appearance
- disableRemove functional capacity
undermine · subvert · tamper · damage · cripple · incapacitate · explosive · selfdestruct · destabilize · compromise
deterioration
Process of declining quality
- degradationDecline in condition
- dilapidationState of ruin
- disrepairPoor maintained condition
atrophy · rot · corrosion · erosion · blight · neglect · abandonment · dereliction · spoilage · decomposition
- total destructionComplete and utter ruin
- mass destructionLarge-scale total ruin
- path of destructionRoute marked by ruin
- weapons of mass destructionArms causing widespread casualties
- self-destructive behavior
- habitat destructionEliminating natural living spaces
destruction, destructive, indestructible, destructively, self-destruct, destructiveness, destructible, self-destruction, destructed