destroyer

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a small fast lightly armored but heavily armed warship
  2. noun a person who destroys or ruins or lays waste to

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

guided missile destroyer

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