ruin

ruin
ruinable, adj.ruiner, n.
/rooh"in/, n.
1. ruins, the remains of a building, city, etc., that has been destroyed or that is in disrepair or a state of decay: We visited the ruins of ancient Greece.
2. a destroyed or decayed building, town, etc.
3. a fallen, wrecked, or decayed condition: The building fell to ruin.
4. the downfall, decay, or destruction of anything.
5. the complete loss of health, means, position, hope, or the like.
6. something that causes a downfall or destruction; blight: Alcohol was his ruin.
7. the downfall of a person; undoing: the ruin of Oedipus.
8. a person as the wreck of his or her former self; ravaged individual.
9. the act of causing destruction or a downfall.
v.t.
10. to reduce to ruin; devastate.
11. to bring (a person, company, etc.) to financial ruin; bankrupt.
12. to injure (a thing) irretrievably.
13. to induce (a woman) to surrender her virginity; deflower.
v.i.
14. to fall into ruins; fall to pieces.
15. to come to ruin.
[1325-75; (n.) ME ruine < MF < L ruina headlong rush, fall, collapse, equiv. to ru(ere) to fall + -ina -INE2; (v.) ( < MF ruiner) < ML ruinare, deriv. of L ruina]
Syn. 3. RUIN, DESTRUCTION, HAVOC imply irrevocable and often widespread damage. DESTRUCTION may be on a large or small scale (destruction of tissue, of enemy vessels); it emphasizes particularly the act of destroying, while RUIN and HAVOC emphasize the resultant state. RUIN, from the verb meaning to fall to pieces, suggests a state of decay or disintegration (or an object in that state) that is apt to be more the result of the natural processes of time and change than of sudden violent activity from without: The house has fallen to ruins. Only in its figurative application is it apt to suggest the result of destruction from without: the ruin of her hopes.
HAVOC, originally a cry that served as the signal for pillaging, has changed its reference from that of spoliation to devastation, being used particularly of the destruction following in the wake of natural calamities: the havoc wrought by flood and pestilence. Today it is used figuratively to refer to the destruction of hopes and plans: This sudden turn of events played havoc with her carefully laid designs. 4. fall, overthrow, defeat, wreck. 10. demolish, destroy, damage. See spoil.
Ant. 4. construction, creation.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • ruin — n Ruin, havoc, devastation, destruction are comparable when they mean the bringing about of disaster or what is left by a disaster. They are general terms which do not definitely indicate the cause or the effect yet suggest the kind of force… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Ruin — Ru in, n. [OE. ruine, F. ruine, fr. L. ruina, fr. ruere, rutum, to fall with violence, to rush or tumble down.] 1. The act of falling or tumbling down; fall. [Obs.] His ruin startled the other steeds. Chapman. [1913 Webster] 2. Such a change of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ruin — [ro͞o′ən] n. [ME ruine < OFr < L ruina < ruere, to fall, hurl to the ground < IE * ereu < base * er , to set in motion, erect > RUN, RISE] 1. Archaic a falling down, as of a building, wall, etc. 2. [pl.] the remains of a fallen… …   English World dictionary

  • Ruin — Ru in, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ruined};p. pr. & vb. n. {Ruining}.] [Cf. F. ruiner, LL. ruinare. See {Ruin}, n.] To bring to ruin; to cause to fall to pieces and decay; to make to perish; to bring to destruction; to bring to poverty or bankruptcy; to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ruin — Ru in, v. i. To fall to ruins; to go to ruin; to become decayed or dilapidated; to perish. [R.] [1913 Webster] Though he his house of polished marble build, Yet shall it ruin like the moth s frail cell. Sandys. [1913 Webster] If we are idle, and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • ruin — [n] situation of devastation atrophy, bane, bankruptcy, bath, breakdown, collapse, confusion, crackup, crash, crumbling, damage, decay, defeat, degeneracy, degeneration, demolition, destitution, destruction, deterioration, dilapidation,… …   New thesaurus

  • Ruin — »Zusammenbruch, Zerrüttung, Untergang«: Das seit dem 17. Jh. bezeugte »Ruin« ist identisch mit dem seit dem 16. Jh. bezeugten Ruine »zerfallenes Bauwerk, Trümmer«, übertragen auch »Wrack, hinfälliger Mensch«. Beide sind aus gleichbed. frz. ruine… …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • Ruin — [Aufbauwortschatz (Rating 1500 3200)] Auch: • Untergang • ruinieren • zugrunde richten Bsp.: • Der Verlust seiner Arbeit bedeutete für ihn den Ruin …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

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