The difference between Annihilate and Destroy
When used as verbs, annihilate means to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate, whereas destroy means to damage beyond use or repair.
check bellow for the other definitions of Annihilate and Destroy
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Annihilate as a verb:
To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
Examples:
"An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city."
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Annihilate as a verb (particle physics):
To react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation.
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Annihilate as a verb (archaic):
To treat as worthless, to vilify.
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Annihilate as a verb (transitive):
To render null and void; to abrogate.
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Destroy as a verb (transitive):
To damage beyond use or repair.
Examples:
"The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes."
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Destroy as a verb (intransitive):
To cause destruction.
Examples:
"Hooligans destroy unprovoked."
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Destroy as a verb (transitive):
To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
Examples:
"Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate."
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Destroy as a verb (transitive):
To put down or euthanize.
Examples:
"'Destroying a rabid dog is required by law."
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Destroy as a verb (transitive):
To severely disrupt the well-being of (a person); ruin.
Examples:
"Her divorce destroyed her; she had a nervous breakdown and was severely depressed for more than a year."
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Destroy as a verb (colloquial, transitive):
To defeat soundly.
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Destroy as a verb (computing, transitive):
To remove data.
Examples:
"The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists."
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Destroy as a verb (US, colloquial, slang):
To sing a song poorly.