death and destruction share a recorded sense, so the question is not what they mean but which one fits. death means “the event of dying or departure from life”. destruction means “the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists”. death is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈdɛθ/
1.n.the event of dying or departure from life
“her death came as a terrible shock”
2.n.the permanent end of all life functions in an organism or part of an organism
“the animal died a painful death”
3.n.the absence of life or state of being dead
“he seemed more content in death than he had ever been in life”
/dɪˈstɹʌkʃən/
1.n.the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
2.n.an event (or the result of an event) that completely destroys something
3.n.a final state
“he came to a bad end”
| death | destruction | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɛθ/ | /dɪˈstɹʌkʃən/ |
| Said | deth | di-STRUHK-shuhn |
| Syllables | 1 | 3 |
| Letters | 5 | 11 |
| Parts of speech | noun | noun |
| Senses | 8 | 3 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | decease, expiry | devastation |
Full entry for death · Full entry for destruction · More comparisons