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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ruin \Ru"in\, noun [OE. ruine, F. ruine, fr. L. ruina, fr. ruere, rutum, to fall with violence, to rush or tumble down.]
1. The act of falling or tumbling down; fall. [Obs.] ''His ruin startled the other steeds.'' --Chapman.
2. Such a change of anything as destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; destruction; overthrow; as, the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution or a government; the ruin of health or hopes. ''Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!'' --Gray.
3. That which is fallen down and become worthless from injury or decay; as, his mind is a ruin; especially, in the plural, the remains of a destroyed, dilapidated, or desolate house, fortress, city, or the like.
The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, And one promiscuous ruin cover all; Nor, after length of years, a stone betray The place where once the very ruins lay. --Addison.
The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character. --Buckminster.
4. The state of being dcayed, or of having become ruined or worthless; as, to be in ruins; to go to ruin.
5. That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction.
The errors of young men are the ruin of business. --Bacon.
Syn: Destruction; downfall; perdition; fall; overthrow; subversion; defeat; bane; pest; mischief.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ruin \Ru"in\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Ruined};p. pr. & vb. n. {Ruining}.] [Cf. F. ruiner, LL. ruinare. See {Ruin}, noun] To bring to ruin; to cause to fall to pieces and decay; to make to perish; to bring to destruction; to bring to poverty or bankruptcy; to impair seriously; to damage essentially; to overthrow.
this mortal house I'll ruin. --Shak.
By thee raised, I ruin all my foes. --Milton.
The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. --Franklin.
By the fireside there are old men seated, Seeling ruined cities in the ashes. --Longfellow.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ruin \Ru"in\, verb (used without an object) To fall to ruins; to go to ruin; to become decayed or dilapidated; to perish. [R.]
Though he his house of polished marble build, Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. --Sandys.
If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. --Locke.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
ruin
noun
1: an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction; "you have brought ruin on this entire family" [syn: {ruination}]
2: a ruined building; "they explored several Roman ruins"
3: the process of becoming dilapidated [syn: {dilapidation}]
4: an event that results in destruction [syn: {ruination}]
5: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation [syn: {downfall}, {ruination}]
6: destruction achieved by wrecking something [syn: {laying waste}, {ruining}, {ruination}, {wrecking}]
verb
1: destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up" [syn: {destroy}]
2: destroy or cause to fail; "This behavior will ruin your chances of winning the election"
3: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" [syn: {bankrupt}, {break}, {smash}]
4: reduce to ruins; "The country lay ruined after the war"
5: deprive of virginity; "This dirty old man deflowered several young girls in the village" [syn: {deflower}]
6: fall into ruin
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
403 Moby Thesaurus words for "ruin": Waterloo, abuse, afterglow, afterimage, ancient manuscript, annihilate, antique, antiquity, archaism, artifact, assault, atrophy, attack, baffle, balance, balk, bane, bankrupt, bankruptcy, barbarize, batter, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, beating, beggar, beldam, bereavement, best, betray, blast, blight, bloodbath, blue ruin, bollix up, botch, brave, break, break up, breakdown, breakup, bring to ruin, brutalize, burn, bust, butcher, butt, butt end, candle ends, carcass, carnage, carry on, cave painting, chaff, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, clean out, collapse, condemn, confound, confront, confusion, conquering, conquest, consume, consumption, contravene, corrupt, corrupting, corruption, cost, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, crash, crone, cross, crumbling, crush, curse, damage, damn, damnation, dash, dead loss, deal destruction, deathblow, debacle, debase, debasement, debasing, debauch, debit, debris, decadence, decay, deceive, decimate, decimation, declension, decline, deface, defeat, defile, defilement, defiling, defloration, deflower, deflowering, defy, degeneracy, degenerate, degeneration, degradation, degrading, demolish, denial, denudation, deplete, depredate, depredation, deprivation, desecrate, desolate, desolation, despoil, despoilment, despoliation, destroy, destroyer, destruction, detriment, detritus, devastate, devastation, devolution, devour, dilapidate, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, disfigure, dish, dishonor, dishonoring, disintegration, disorganization, dispossession, disrepair, disrupt, disruption, dissolution, dissolve, divestment, do in, dodo, dotard, downfall, downgrade, drain, draw, drub, drubbing, elude, end, engorge, eolith, expense, fag end, failure, fall, filings, fix, flatten, flummox, foil, fold up, force, forfeit, forfeiture, fossil, fragments, frustrate, fuddy-duddy, gin, go on, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, hag, hammer, harm, havoc, hecatomb, hide, hiding, holdover, holocaust, hors de combat, hulk, hurt, husks, impair, impoverish, incinerate, injury, knock the chocks, lambaste, lambasting, lather, lathering, lay in ruins, lay waste, lead astray, leavings, leftovers, lick, licking, liquidation, loot, loser, losing, losing streak, loss, louse up, maim, mangle, mar, mastery, maul, mere wreck, mess up, mezzolith, microlith, mischief, mislead, mug, mutilate, nemesis, neolith, nervous wreck, nonplus, nullify, odds and ends, offscourings, old fogy, old geezer, orts, outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrage, outrun, outsail, outshine, overcoming, overthrow, overturn, paleolith, parings, pauper, pauperize, perdition, perplex, petrification, petrified forest, petrified wood, petroglyph, pillage, plateaulith, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, privation, pulverize, put, quietus, rage, rags, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, rattletrap, ravage, rave, ravish, raze, refuse, relic, relics, reliquiae, remainder, remains, remnant, residue, residuum, rest, riot, roach, roar, robbery, rubbish, rubble, ruinate, ruination, ruins, rump, sabotage, sack, sacrifice, savage, sawdust, scotch, scourings, scraps, screw up, scuttle, seduce, seducing, seduction, settle, shadow, shambles, shatter, shavings, shipwreck, sink, skeleton, skin, skin alive, slaughter, smash, soil, sow chaos, spike, spoil, spoliate, spoliation, stonewall, storm, straw, stripping, stubble, stump, subdual, subduing, subjugation, sully, survival, swallow up, sweepings, taking away, tear, tear around, terrorize, thrash, thrashing, throw into disorder, thwart, total loss, trace, trim, trimming, triumph over, trounce, trouncing, uglify, unbuild, undo, undoing, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, upset, vandalism, vandalize, vanquishment, vaporize, vestige, violate, vitiate, vitiating, vitiation, waste, whip, whipping, wipe out, wiping out, witch, worst, wrack, wrack and ruin, wreak havoc, wreck, wreckage
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
RUIN, v. To destroy. Specifically, to destroy a maid's belief in the virtue of maids.
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