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ruin

ru·in [ r in ]


noun  (plural ru·ins)
Definition:
 
1. broken remains: the physical remains of something such as a building or city that has decayed or been destroyed ( often used in the plural )

2. complete devastation: a state of complete destruction, decay, collapse, or loss ( often plural )
The buildings had gone to ruin.

3. complete failure: complete moral, social, or economic failure
facing financial ruin

4. somebody or something destroyed: somebody or something completely lost or destroyed

5. cause of destruction: a cause of complete loss or destruction
Alcohol was their ruin.

6. loss of virginity: a woman's loss of virginity to a man other than her husband ( archaic )



plural noun ru·ins 
Definition:
 
complete devastation: a state of complete destruction, decay, collapse, or loss
Her dreams lay in ruins.



verb  (past and past participle ru·ined, present participle ru·in·ing, 3rd person present singular ru·ins)
Definition:
 
1. transitive verb destroy something: to cause something to be destroyed or lost

2. transitive verb destroy somebody financially: to bring about somebody's financial demise

3. transitive verb damage something beyond repair: to spoil something so severely that it cannot be restored

4. intransitive verb decline: to fall into a state of complete destruction or loss ( literary )

5. transitive verb seduce then abandon woman: to induce a woman to engage in sex before marriage, then abandon her ( archaic )

[14th century. Via French< Latin ruina< ruere "to fall"]

ru·ined adjective
ru·in·er noun
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