demolition

What it means

1. countableuncountableThe process of demolishing or destroying buildings or other structures.

   At Kiwi, 40 miles from Nelson [New Zealand], eight women installed themselves in the goods shed, taking with them their knitting, and a supply of food and magazines. The demolition crew was unable to pull the building down without injuring them.

   1955 December, “Notes and News: Women Delay Railway Demolition”, in Railway Magazine, page 878

   2 more examples

   During the war, but unrecorded because of the requirements of censorship, a link with the now partly-abandoned Cardiff Railway disappeared with the demolition of Rhydyfelin Viaduct, near Treforest, South Wales, in the latter part of 1942. The steelwork in this structure, amounting to nearly 1,150 tons, was salvaged as scrap metal to assist the war effort.

   1946 January and February, “Notes and News: Demolition of Rhydyfelin Viaduct”, in Railway Magazine, page 52

   Among other work done, according to the letter: CPR replaced the bottom of a deteriorating stair column base with hollow steel structural sections; conducted exploratory demolition on the underside of an eave that required “removal and reconstruction”; and removed all loose “cracked, spalled, deteriorated, and delaminated concrete” and damaged stucco from the underside of balcony eaves on 114 of the building’s 136 units, the letter said.

   2021 July 2, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Alta Spells, Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, “Firm held off on repairs because of stability issues in months before Surfside building collapse”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2021

In a sentence

During the war, but unrecorded because of the requirements of censorship, a link with the now partly-abandoned Cardiff Railway disappeared with the demolition of Rhydyfelin Viaduct, near Treforest, South Wales, in the latter part of 1942. The steelwork in this structure, amounting to nearly 1,150 tons, was salvaged as scrap metal to assist the war effort.

1946 January and February, “Notes and News: Demolition of Rhydyfelin Viaduct”, in Railway Magazine, page 52

Where it comes from

1. Latindēmōlītiō“a tearing down”
2. Old Frenchdemolition
3. Englishdemolition

From Old French demolition, from Latin dēmōlītiō (“a tearing down”). Equivalent to demolish + -ion.