[syn: deflower, ruin]
6. fall into ruin;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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 anything as destroys it, or entirely
defeats its object, or unfits it for use; destruction;
overthrow; as, the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of
a constitution or a government; the ruin of health or
hopes. "Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!" --Gray.
[1913 Webster]
3. That which is fallen down and become worthless from injury
or decay; as, his mind is a ruin; especially, in the
plural, the remains of a destroyed, dilapidated, or
desolate house, fortress, city, or the like.
[1913 Webster]
The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall,
And one promiscuous ruin cover all;
Nor, after length of years, a stone betray
The place where once the very ruins lay. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous
habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
--Buckminster.
[1913 Webster]
4. The state of being dcayed, or of having become ruined or
worthless; as, to be in ruins; to go to ruin.
[1913 Webster]
5. That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction.
[1913 Webster]
The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
--Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Destruction; downfall; perdition; fall; overthrow;
subversion; defeat; bane; pest; mischief.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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 disturb the industrious in their
business, we shall ruin the faster. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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 impair seriously; to damage essentially; to
overthrow.
[1913 Webster]
this mortal house I'll ruin. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
By thee raised, I ruin all my foes. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us.
--Franklin.
[1913 Webster]
By the fireside there are old men seated,
Seeling ruined cities in the ashes. --Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
ruin
n 1: an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction; "you
have brought ruin on this entire family" [syn: ruin,
ruination]
2: a ruined building; "they explored several Roman ruins"
3: the process of becoming dilapidated [syn: dilapidation,
ruin]
4: an event that results in destruction [syn: ruin,
ruination]
5: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
[syn: downfall, ruin, ruination]
6: destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or
ruined [syn: laying waste, ruin, ruining, ruination,
wrecking]
v 1: destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my
car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her
make-up" [syn: destroy, ruin]
2: destroy or cause to fail; "This behavior will ruin your
chances of winning the election"
3: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going
to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed
him" [syn: bankrupt, ruin, break, smash]
4: reduce to ruins; "The country lay ruined after the war"
5: deprive of virginity; "This dirty old man deflowered several
young girls in the village" [syn: deflower, ruin]
6: fall into ruin
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
403 Moby Thesaurus words for "ruin":
Waterloo, abuse, afterglow, afterimage, ancient manuscript,
annihilate, antique, antiquity, archaism, artifact, assault,
atrophy, attack, baffle, balance, balk, bane, bankrupt, bankruptcy,
barbarize, batter, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, beating,
beggar, beldam, bereavement, best, betray, blast, blight,
bloodbath, blue ruin, bollix up, botch, brave, break, break up,
breakdown, breakup, bring to ruin, brutalize, burn, bust, butcher,
butt, butt end, candle ends, carcass, carnage, carry on,
cave painting, chaff, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, clean out,
collapse, condemn, confound, confront, confusion, conquering,
conquest, consume, consumption, contravene, corrupt, corrupting,
corruption, cost, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork,
crash, crone, cross, crumbling, crush, curse, damage, damn,
damnation, dash, dead loss, deal destruction, deathblow, debacle,
debase, debasement, debasing, debauch, debit, debris, decadence,
decay, deceive, decimate, decimation, declension, decline, deface,
defeat, defile, defilement, defiling, defloration, deflower,
deflowering, defy, degeneracy, degenerate, degeneration,
degradation, degrading, demolish, denial, denudation, deplete,
depredate, depredation, deprivation, desecrate, desolate,
desolation, despoil, despoilment, despoliation, destroy, destroyer,
destruction, detriment, detritus, devastate, devastation,
devolution, devour, dilapidate, discomfit, disconcert,
discountenance, disfigure, dish, dishonor, dishonoring,
disintegration, disorganization, dispossession, disrepair, disrupt,
disruption, dissolution, dissolve, divestment, do in, dodo, dotard,
downfall, downgrade, drain, draw, drub, drubbing, elude, end,
engorge, eolith, expense, fag end, failure, fall, filings, fix,
flatten, flummox, foil, fold up, force, forfeit, forfeiture,
fossil, fragments, frustrate, fuddy-duddy, gin, go on, gobble,
gobble up, gut, gut with fire, hag, hammer, harm, havoc, hecatomb,
hide, hiding, holdover, holocaust, hors de combat, hulk, hurt,
husks, impair, impoverish, incinerate, injury, knock the chocks,
lambaste, lambasting, lather, lathering, lay in ruins, lay waste,
lead astray, leavings, leftovers, lick, licking, liquidation, loot,
loser, losing, losing streak, loss, louse up, maim, mangle, mar,
mastery, maul, mere wreck, mess up, mezzolith, microlith, mischief,
mislead, mug, mutilate, nemesis, neolith, nervous wreck, nonplus,
nullify, odds and ends, offscourings, old fogy, old geezer, orts,
outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint,
outrage, outrun, outsail, outshine, overcoming, overthrow,
overturn, paleolith, parings, pauper, pauperize, perdition,
perplex, petrification, petrified forest, petrified wood,
petroglyph, pillage, plateaulith, play havoc with, play hob with,
poison, privation, pulverize, put, quietus, rage, rags, ramp,
rampage, rant, rape, rattletrap, ravage, rave, ravish, raze,
refuse, relic, relics, reliquiae, remainder, remains, remnant,
residue, residuum, rest, riot, roach, roar, robbery, rubbish,
rubble, ruinate, ruination, ruins, rump, sabotage, sack, sacrifice,
savage, sawdust, scotch, scourings, scraps, screw up, scuttle,
seduce, seducing, seduction, settle, shadow, shambles, shatter,
shavings, shipwreck, sink, skeleton, skin, skin alive, slaughter,
smash, soil, sow chaos, spike, spoil, spoliate, spoliation,
stonewall, storm, straw, stripping, stubble, stump, subdual,
subduing, subjugation, sully, survival, swallow up, sweepings,
taking away, tear, tear around, terrorize, thrash, thrashing,
throw into disorder, thwart, total loss, trace, trim, trimming,
triumph over, trounce, trouncing, uglify, unbuild, undo, undoing,
unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, upset,
vandalism, vandalize, vanquishment, vaporize, vestige, violate,
vitiate, vitiating, vitiation, waste, whip, whipping, wipe out,
wiping out, witch, worst, wrack, wrack and ruin, wreak havoc,
wreck, wreckage
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
RUIN, v. To destroy. Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the
virtue of maids.