destroying
- 1Present participle and gerund of destroy.
Fire was destroying the warehouse faster than crews could respond.
Destroying the records did nothing to hide what had happened.
Note
One spelling does two jobs here. After be it marks an action in progress (fire was destroying the warehouse). As a gerund it fills a noun's slot yet still takes a direct object, so destroying the records can stand as a subject. It carries every sense of destroy, including the informal 'crush an opponent' and the sense of removing data. The y of destroy stays unchanged before -ing.
destroying is a form of destroy
destroy, verb: To damage or eliminate something completely, so that it no longer exists, can be used, or has its former effect. Full entry
- Spelling
- destroy → destroying: add -ing
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