From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe the ruin of somebodybe the ruin of somebodyLOSE/NOT HAVE ANYMOREto make someone lose all their money, their good health, the good opinion that other people have of them etc Drinking was the ruin of him. → ruin
Examples from the Corpus
be the ruin of somebody• Manning's love for alcohol was the ruin of him.• And if Mandrake goes public, however ill founded his claims, it could be the ruin of my brokerage.• Feast day, September I.. Drunkeness is the ruin of reason.• Here are the ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey.• Nearby are the ruins of Egglestone Abbey.• Beneath the palace were the ruins of at least three older buildings, he said.• Another important site from Magna Graecia is at Policoro where there are the ruins of ancient Eraclea. 