Third person singular present tense of demolish; tears down, destroys, or dismantles buildings or structures; can also mean to completely defeat an argument or opponent.
From 'demolish,' from Middle French 'demolir,' from Latin 'demoliri' ('to tear down'), where 'de-' means 'down' and 'moliri' means 'to work or heave.' The metaphorical sense (defeating arguments) emerged in modern English.
We use 'demolish' metaphorically all the time—'she demolishes that argument'—but the word literally means to tear buildings apart, showing how destruction language bleeds into our everyday competitive speech.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.