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Devastate vs Extinguish - What's the difference?

devastate | extinguish | Related terms |

Devastate is a related term of extinguish.


As verbs the difference between devastate and extinguish

is that devastate is 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 while extinguish is to put out, as in fire; to end burning; to quench.

devastate

English

Verb

(devastat)
  • 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.
  • extinguish

    English

    Verb

    (es)
  • to put out, as in fire; to end burning; to quench
  • to destroy or abolish something
  • She extinguished all my hopes.
  • * 1668 December 19, , “Mr.'' Alexander Seaton ''contra'' Menzies” in ''The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575
  • The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Di?charge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extingui?h the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and con?equently of all the re?t, they being all correi debendi , lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Di?charged as to one, and ?tand as to all the re?t.
  • to obscure or eclipse something
  • The rays of the sun were extinguished by the thunder clouds.
  • (psychology) to bring about the extinction of a conditioned reflex
  • (literally) to hunt down (a species) to extinction
  • Synonyms

    * put out, quench, douse * See also