De*struc"tive (?), a. [L.
destructivus: cf. F. destructif.] Causing
destruction; tending to bring about ruin, death, or devastation;
ruinous; fatal; productive of serious evil; mischievous; pernicious;
-- often with of or to; as, intemperance is
destructive of health; evil examples are destructive to
the morals of youth.
Time's destructive power.
Wordsworth.
Destructive distillation. See
Distillation. -- Destructive sorties
(?) (Logic), a process of reasoning which involves the
denial of the first of a series of dependent propositions as a
consequence of the denial of the last; a species of reductio ad
absurdum. Whately.
Syn. -- Mortal; deadly; poisonous; fatal; ruinous;
malignant; baleful; pernicious; mischievous.
De*struc"tive, n. One who
destroys; a radical reformer; a destructionist.