destroyer
nounUS /dəˈstɹɔɪ.ɚ/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English destroyour, destroyere; By surface analysis, destroy + -er. Designating a warship, it is ellipsis of torpedo-boat destroyer, the longer term appearing at the end of the 19th century and the shorter form early in the 20th.
1
That which destroys something.
- But it is as a destroyer of grasshoppers that the dickcissel excels.1901, Sylvester D. Judd, The Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture, page 91:
- These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar.1908 January 23, John Muir, “Hetch Hetchy Valley”, in Sierra Club Bulletin:
2
Government, Military, Nautical, Politics, Transport, War Historical A small, fast warship with light gun armament, smaller than a cruiser, but bigger than a frigate.
4
Government, Literature, Media, Military, Nautical, Politics, Publishing, Science fiction, Transport, War Broadly A starship of comparable role.
- Synonyms
- devastator, decimator
- Derived terms
- command destroyer, commerce destroyer, destroyer escort, destroyer leader, destroyer minesweeper, flag destroyer, mealybug destroyer, self-destroyer, tank destroyer