devastate
11devastate — [17] Etymologically as well as semantically, devastate is related to ‘lay waste’. It comes from the past participle of Latin dēvāstāre, a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix dē and vāstāre ‘lay waste’. This was a derivative of vāstus… …
12devastate — transitive verb ( tated; tating) Etymology: Latin devastatus, past participle of devastare, from de + vastare to lay waste more at waste Date: 1638 1. to bring to ruin or desolation by violent action < a country devastated …
13devastate — devastative, adj. devastator, n. /dev euh stayt /, v.t., devastated, devastating. 1. to lay waste; render desolate: The invaders devastated the city. 2. to overwhelm. [1625 35; < L devastatus laid waste (ptp. of devastare), equiv. to de DE +… …
14devastate — verb a) To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest. b) To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions. See Also:… …
15devastate — Synonyms and related words: abash, bring to ruin, chagrin, condemn, confound, consume, damn, deal destruction, decimate, demolish, depopulate, depredate, desecrate, desolate, despoil, destroy, devour, discombobulate, discomfit, disconcert,… …
16devastate — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. t. [lay] waste, ravage, desolate, pillage; ruin, raze, destroy, demolish; informal, disappoint, crush. See destruction, disappointment. II (Roget s IV) v. 1. [To lay waste] Syn. ravage, desolate,… …
17devastate — 01. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center [devastated] the financial district of New York. 02. The entire U.S. was [devastated] by the news of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 03. Acid rain has a [devastating] effect on the… …
18devastate — dev|a|state [ˈdevəsteıt] v [T] [Date: 1600 1700; : Latin; Origin: devastare, from vastare to lay waste, destroy ] 1.) to make someone feel extremely shocked and sad ▪ Rob was devastated by the news of her death. 2.) to damage something very badly …
19devastate — dev|as|tate [ devə,steıt ] verb transitive usually passive * 1. ) to seriously damage or completely destroy something: Western India was devastated by a huge earthquake. 2. ) to make someone feel very shocked and upset: Mary s sisters were… …
20devastate — [[t]de̱vəsteɪt[/t]] devastates, devastating, devastated VERB If something devastates an area or a place, it damages it very badly or destroys it totally. [V n] A few days before, a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle. Syn: ravage,… …
