Definition of "devastate"

devastate

/ˈdɛvəsteɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present devastates, present participle devastating, simple past and past participle devastated
1. 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.
  Quotations
  Halifax in Canada was devastated by a ship exploding in 1917. SS Mont Blanc, a French vessel loaded with 2.9 kilotons of explosives, collided with the Imo.
  2022 August 24, Bruce Healey, “Wartime tunnel crash: a miraculous escape”, in RAIL, number 964, page 53
2. To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
3. 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.
4. To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay