Misuse vs Destroy - What's the difference?
misuse | destroy |
An incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=June 4
, author=Lewis Smith
, title=Queen's English Society says enuf is enough, innit?
, work=the Guardian
To use (something) incorrectly.
To abuse or mistreat (something or someone).
(obsolete) To abuse verbally, to insult.
*, II.3.7:
To cause destruction.
To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
To put down or euthanize.
(colloquial) To defeat soundly.
(computing) To remove data.
In transitive terms the difference between misuse and destroy
is that misuse is to abuse or mistreat (something or someone) while destroy is to put down or euthanize.As a noun misuse
is an incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.misuse
English
Etymology 1
(mis-) +Noun
(en noun)citation, page= , passage=The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold.}}
Etymology 2
From (mis-) +Verb
(misus)- Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face: but he laughed, as if it concerned him not […].
destroy
English
Verb
To damage beyond use or repair.
- The earthquake destroyed several apartment complexes.
- ''Hooligans destroy unprovoked
- ''Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate
- Destroying a rabid dog is required by law.
- The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.