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Jenne Phuong
2021-06-21 04:06
Lay waste to something expression
The expression can be rewritten as "lay something waste" and "lay something to waste".
If something "lays waste to something", it completely destroys and causes heavy damage to something.
In 1945, the U.S laid waste to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by dropping atomic bombs on these two cities.
Throughout our long periods of history, we can conclude that war not only doesn't bring any benefits to the citizens but it also lays waste to the land, the water, the air, and especially the human beings.
To put an end to something
1. Fall in a sequence
2. Be damaged, destroyed or defeated quickly and sequentially
If something "goes under the wrecking ball", it is destroyed or demolished.
To damage or try to damage something, typically refers to intangible things.
To destroy an argument, a rule, law, belief or plan; to make something ineffective
The verb “lay" should be conjugated according to its tense.
When the expression “lay waste” showed up in Middle English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it meant “to devastate, ravage (land, buildings).”
The first example in the OED is from the Coverdale Bible of 1535: “For they haue deuoured Iacob, and layed waiste his dwellinge place.”
Do you see anything wrong?
If you take a flyer (on something), you take a chance, risk, or gamble on it.
The coach took a flyer on the young goalkeeper, and it turned out to be a wise choice.
