Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Destroy

Destroy , transitive verb

[Old English destroien, destruien, destrien, Old French destruire, French détruire, from Latin destruere, destructum; de + struere to pile up, build. See Structure.]

1.
To unbuild; to pull or tear down; to separate virulently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish.
But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. — Ex. xxxiv. 13
2.
To ruin; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate; to consume.
I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation. — Jer. xii. 17
3.
To put an end to the existence, prosperity, or beauty of; to kill.
If him by force he can destroy, or, worse, By some false guile pervert. — Milton