Ruin

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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     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.
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     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.
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              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.
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              The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous
              habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
                                                    --Buckminster.
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     4. The state of being dcayed, or of having become ruined or
        worthless; as, to be in ruins; to go to ruin.
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     5. That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction.
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              The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
                                                    --Bacon.
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     Syn: Destruction; downfall; perdition; fall; overthrow;
          subversion; defeat; bane; pest; mischief.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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           this mortal house I'll ruin.             --Shak.
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           By thee raised, I ruin all my foes.      --Milton.
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           The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us.
                                                    --Franklin.
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           By the fireside there are old men seated,
           Seeling ruined cities in the ashes.      --Longfellow.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ruin \Ru"in\, v. i.
     To fall to ruins; to go to ruin; to become decayed or
     dilapidated; to perish. [R.]
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           Though he his house of polished marble build,
           Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. --Sandys.
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           If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their
           business, we shall ruin the faster.      --Locke.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ruin
       n 1: an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction; "you
            have brought ruin on this entire family" [syn: {ruination}]
       2: a ruined building; "they explored several Roman ruins"
       3: the process of becoming dilapidated [syn: {dilapidation}]
       4: an event that results in destruction [syn: {ruination}]
       5: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
          [syn: {downfall}, {ruination}]
       6: destruction achieved by wrecking something [syn: {laying
          waste}, {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}]
       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}, {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}]
       6: fall into ruin

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  RUIN, v.  To destroy.  Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the
  virtue of maids.