Destroy
Destroy verb - To bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of.
Usage example: their poor scores on the final exam destroyed any chance they might have had to pass the course
Exterminate is a synonym for destroy in annihilate topic. In some cases you can use "Exterminate" instead a verb "Destroy", when it comes to topics like demolish, eliminate, end, undo. popular alternative
Exterminate
Exterminate verb - To destroy all traces of.
Usage example: hope that the fumigant exterminates the whole colony of cockroaches, for any survivors may be resistant to any poison
Destroy is a synonym for exterminate in annihilate topic. You can use "Destroy" instead a verb "Exterminate", if it concerns topics such as kill, eliminate, end, undo. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- crush and destroy
- crush and exterminate
- liquidate and destroy
- liquidate and exterminate
- annihilate and destroy
- annihilate and exterminate
- extinguish and destroy
- extinguish and exterminate
- smash and destroy
- smash and exterminate
- demolish and destroy
- demolish and exterminate
- eliminate and destroy
- eliminate and exterminate
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
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It shouts "Exterminate and Destroy" and attempts to kill Roachie and CatDog.
Source: Western Animation / CatDog -
The German future pop band Rotersand composed a song using samples from Doctor Who entitled, appropriately enough, "Exterminate Annihilate Destroy."
Source: Crush. Kill. Destroy! - In their early stories, they yelled a number of words referring to death and destruction such as "kill", "destroy", and "annihilate", with exterminate becoming the most commonly used by their third story The Chase and the go-to phrase as the Daleks appeared thereafter.
Cite this Source
Exterminate and Destroy. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/exterminate
Destroy & Exterminate. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/exterminate>.
Exterminate or Destroy. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/exterminate.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "destroy" and "exterminate" have occurred on timeline