n.
- physical destruction or collapse.
- the remains of a building that has suffered much damage.
- a dramatic decline; a downfall.
v.
- damage irreparably; reduce to a state of ruin.
▸reduce to poverty or bankruptcy.
- literary fall headlong.
Phrase
- in ruins
in a state of complete collapse.
Etymology
ME: from OFr. ruine, from L. ruina, from ruere ‘to fall’.