demolition

UK/ˌdɛm.əˈlɪʃ.ən/US/ˌdɛm.əˈlɪʃ.ən/

nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,972 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: demolitions

Demolition is the planned destruction of a building. Not a collapse — a decision, and a machine brought in to carry it out.

The word covers everything from a wrecking ball to a controlled explosion that drops a tower straight down. A demolition site is a real category in planning law. The verb is demolish, which also means to defeat somebody comprehensively, so a team can be demolished. Demolishing an argument is destroying it with evidence, and demolishing a plate of food is finishing it very quickly indeed.

Definitions of demolition

1noundemolitionThe deliberate destruction of a building or structure.B2
“The demolition took less than a minute.”

Where it comes from

Latin
dēmōlītiō — a tearing down
Old French
demolition
English, today
demolition

From Old French demolition, from Latin dēmōlītiō (“a tearing down”). Equivalent to demolish + ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the City, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 10 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

demolition in the wild

For example, Australia's first demolition derby took place in January 1963.
Demolition derby
In the UK and parts of Europe, demolition derbies (sometimes called "destruction derbies") are often held at the end of a full day of banger racing.
Demolition derby
The demolition or burning of Masjid al-Dirar, or the Mosque of Dissent, is mentioned in the Qur'an.
Demolition of Masjid al-Dirar
For small buildings, such as houses, that are only two or three stories high, demolition is a rather simple process.
Demolition

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

demolish

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