HOW TO PRONOUNCE
devastate
/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does devastate mean?
verb
- 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.
- To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
- To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.
More meanings (1)
verb
- To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Consequently the Rabbits had multiplied in such numbers that they now were threatening to devastate the country.
We devastate nature in order to make sacrifice to him.
More book examples (3)
Then let us enact this law also for our guardians:—that they are neither to devastate the lands of Hellenes nor to burn their houses.
Bowls of this are placed on the ground in the sheds where the women prepare farinha; it is generally done carelessly, but sometimes intentionally through spite when stray oxen devastate the plantations of the poorer people.
For my part, had I a river, I would gladly let all honest anglers that use the fly cast line in it, but, where there is no protection, then nets, poison, dynamite, slaughter of fingerlings, and unholy baits devastate the fish, so that 'Free Fishing' spells no fishing at all.