How to Use destroyer in a Sentence

destroyer

noun
  • The pamphlet describes alcohol as a destroyer of families.
  • To be clear: Washington was not the sole destroyer of the Pac-12’s world.
    Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024
  • One of them was on the staff of the battle group commander, the other one was the leader of the destroyer squadron.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 May 2022
  • Just over the weekend, the U.S. destroyer Carney shot down 14 drones.
    Rich Lowry, National Review, 19 Dec. 2023
  • One of the biggest challenges for Cooper was the destroyer tank.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 12 Jan. 2024
  • It’s one thing to be a chip destroyer, another to be a chip thief.
    Washington Post, 28 June 2021
  • This year, the list includes more fighter jets for the Air Force, a destroyer for the Navy, and helicopters for the Army.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 3 June 2021
  • Besides, Squadron 11 wouldn’t be the only fleet of destroyers bound for San Diego that day.
    Longreads, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Sixty-four of the destroyer's 110 officers and crew died when the ship went down.
    Stephen Smith, CBS News, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Streaming, for many in the business, is just the destroyer of movie theaters.
    Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2023
  • For many Tunisians, Mr. Saied is the savior of the country, not the destroyer of democracy.
    Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Oct. 2021
  • Mitchell sees himself in the role of redeemer — not destroyer.
    Dallas News, 3 July 2022
  • China on Wednesday denounced the presence of the US destroyer in the strait.
    Brad Lendon, CNN, 20 May 2021
  • The ship is a Forrest Sherman-class destroyer that was built in Seattle in 1958.
    Scott McMurren, Anchorage Daily News, 12 Feb. 2022
  • The Navy in the late 1980s moved quickly to build its then-new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer at two shipyards.
    David Axe, Forbes, 11 Nov. 2021
  • The Houthis fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward a U.S. Navy destroyer over the weekend, but the ship shot it down.
    Tara Copp, Fortune, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The wreck of the first U.S. Navy destroyer sunk by enemy fire has been discovered.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The destroyer sank in just eight minutes, and 64 American sailors died in the attack.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Feb. 2024
  • The survivors boarded a raft until a British destroyer found them.
    cincinnati.com, 26 May 2022
  • The destroyer shot the missile down without any injuries.
    Stefan Becket, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2024
  • The family was taken to Italy on board a British naval destroyer.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2021
  • How Lego went from humble toy and destroyer of bare feet to black market item thieves target.
    Defne Karabatur, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2024
  • The groundhogs are the most effective destroyers of a garden.
    Yiyun Li, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
  • Addiction is a nasty thing, a destroyer of souls, bodies, and hopes.
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 26 Jan. 2023
  • That’s a little on the light side for a destroyer-sized ship, as the most recent Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are built with 96 Mk.
    Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 1 Dec. 2022
  • The yard will soon add the destroyer Russell and the littoral combat ship Manchester.
    Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 June 2021
  • An Australian destroyer pulled into San Diego Bay last weekend with two dead fin whales lodged against the ship’s hull.
    Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2021
  • Such vessels as the destroyers Halsey and Spruance followed.
    Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2023
  • Across the ten main categories of major weapons systems—such as fighter aircraft or destroyers—the United States maintains 33 types of systems.
    Phillips P. O’Brien, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2024
  • The destroyers have computerized Aegis weapons systems, which combine radar, sensors and missiles to defend against air and surface threats.
    George Petras, USA TODAY, 13 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'destroyer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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