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
Total is a synonym for destroy in help topic. In some cases you can use "Total" instead a verb "Destroy", when it comes to topics like demolish, ruin.
Total
Total verb - To bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of.
Usage example: a powerful hurricane totaled the house some years ago
Destroy is a synonym for total in help topic. Sometimes you can use "Destroy" instead a verb "Total", if it concerns topics such as wreck.
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
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Since securing and containing SCP-682, a powerful and hard-to-destroy reptile hellbent on destroying everything and everyone it sees, has proven to be a total crapshoot, the Foundation wants to destroy it instead of keeping it in constaintment, as its existence is a mortal threat to anyone it sees.
Source: Godzilla Threshold - You get a grand total of one conversation with him in the game, which consists entirely of him bragging about himself and how the Reapers will destroy galactic civilization.
Source: Awesome Ego -
Although when Fire Lord Ozai declares himself Phoenix King in preparation for his plans to destroy the Earth Kingdom and ensure total domination of the world, he does give himself an ornate helmet.
Source: Requisite Royal Regalia
Cite this Source
Total and Destroy. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/total
Destroy & Total. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/total>.
Total or Destroy. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/destroy/total.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "destroy" and "total" have occurred on timeline