TEARING DOWN Synonyms: 172 Similar and Opposite Words

tearing down

verb

present participle of tear down

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of vandals tore down the wooden fence blocking the entrance to the beach

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in demolishing

to destroy (as a building) completely by knocking down or breaking to pieces the new owners apparently bought the house just to tear it down and build a lavish mansion in its place

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tearing down At the time, LeVota said the plan could involve tearing down one or both stadiums. — Dylan Lysen, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026 Development in Charlotte has often involved tearing down historic sites. — Charlotte Observer, 18 Sep. 2026 While their Oscar-winning No Other Land alternated between scenes of bulldozers tearing down homes in the West Bank and scenes showing the growing camaraderie between Abraham and his Palestinian co-director Badel Adra, there is no such relief here. — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026 Demolition crews have begun tearing down the historic Grandview United Presbyterian Church in Mount Washington after weeks of delays. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026 Demolition crews this month began tearing down another complex, the Lindy Boggs Medical Center, which had sat blighted and vacant for more than 20 years after Katrina. — Jack Brook, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026 Videos broadcast by regional news outlets and posted on social media show violent torrents of water surging through valleys and mountain passes, tearing down bridges and dams and sweeping away buildings. — Arshad R. Zargar, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026 One data center company, Aligned, is tearing down four high-vacancy office buildings in town, including the former ADP payroll building, to build new data center space. — Alex Nitkin, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026 The dissolution of the ghettos in the eighteenth century could be interpreted as tearing down barriers, but now poverty set in and the wealthy separated from those who formerly shared a similar destiny. — Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearing down

Verb

Sign up for the newsletter When the rain does fall, Kabul’s hard, impermeable surfaces mean the water doesn’t replenish aquifers, but instead sweeps through the city as flash floods, destroying homes, killing people and rolling away.

— Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Space debris is generated not only by kinetic space weapons but also when satellites collide and get smashed into countless fragments and smaller particles that travel at high velocity and are capable of destroying or damaging more spacecraft.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of destroying

Verb

This is not the first time a coach in LAUSD has gotten into trouble trying to improve a facility, with the district issuing disciplinary action and demolishing the improvement because it was not authorized.

— Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of demolishing

Verb

As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Seaver also allegedly threatened to start a podcast dedicated to ruining Parton’s image unless he was paid.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruining

Verb

The pressure improved in the second half with edge Seth Coleman-Lyles and defensive lineman Cam Riley pulling down quarterback Brandon Allen for the only sack of the game.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 23 Aug. 2026
The teenage girls alerted police of the incident, in which the suspect allegedly attempted to engage the girls in conversation while pulling down his pants and masturbating in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, police said.

— Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of pulling down

Verb

Surveillance video shows three vehicles circling the parking lot before a white Toyota Tacoma barrels through the storefront, shattering glass and sending employees running.

— Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
In fact, they aren’t made of glass at all; they’re made of polycarbonate, a plastic material that mimics the look of a wonky funhouse reflector, to prevent people from shattering the surface and using broken shards as weapons.

— Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of shattering

Verb

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month.

— Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
Military force has imposed enormous costs on both Hamas and Iran, devastating their military facilities and killing their commanders.

— NADIA SCHADLOW, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of devastating

Verb

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick crossed the line while wrecking after Larson hit the wall trying to chase down Briscoe on the final turn.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Her first job as CEO in 2014 was to remake the century-old company’s corporate culture and regain customers’ trust following a tragic, reputation-wrecking ignition-switch crisis.

— Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of wrecking

Verb

But of the leaders of those three mega-bands, perhaps the most mysterious remains Pete Townshend, The Who’s songwriter and enigmatic eminence, thrashing chords and smashing guitars while Roger Daltrey handled lead vocals.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2026
How would Flock stop someone from smashing a car window in the dead of night on a street where no camera is watching?

— Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of smashing

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tearing

tearing down

tearing into

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“Tearing down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearing%20down. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of tearing down

verb

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