From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishruinru‧in1 /ˈruːɪn/ ●●○ S3 verb [transitive] 1 SPOILto spoil or destroy something completely This illness has ruined my life. His career would be ruined. All this mud’s going to ruin my shoes.► see thesaurus at destroy, spoil2 BFMONEYto make someone lose all their money Jefferson was ruined by the lawsuit. → ruined→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
ruin• I thought my career, my friendships and my whole life was ruined.• Surely you don't want to ruin all our good work, do you?• Many firms have been ruined by hasty decisions.• The Zimmerman's house was ruined by the flood.• The rain had ruined her best velvet skirt.• She is still angry with the suppliers, who she says ruined her by failing to deliver on time.• Phelps's mistake has ruined her chances of winning the championship.• The incident has all but ruined her financially.• She almost hated them for ruining her life.• In college he loved a young girl of a lower class and ruined her; she died a suicide.• Alcohol and drugs almost ruined his career.• And if you are ruined, Mr Dollington, it will be by your own hand.• Patty's ex-boyfriend is ruining our relationship.• I've seen a lot of good coppers ruined that way.• A long strike would ruin the company.• Serious in-fighting ruined the Conservatives' chances of winning the election.• But this would have ruined the entire tax system.• John and Sandy argued all the time, which completely ruined the evening for the rest of us.• The only thing that ruined the game for me was the time it took to load each room.• Protestors say that the proposed new airport will ruin this peaceful area.• How can you prevent stomach upsets from ruining your holiday?• Don't use harsh soap to wash your face. It will ruin your skin.ruinruin2 ●●○ noun 1 [uncountable]FAIL a situation in which you have lost all your money, your social position, or the good opinion that people had about you small businesses facing financial ruinbe on the road to ruin (=be doing something that will make you lose your money, position etc)2 [countable] (also ruins)TBCREMAIN/BE LEFT the part of a building that is left after the rest has been destroyed an interesting old ruin the ruins of a bombed-out office block3 → the ruins of something4 → be/lie in ruins5 → fall into ruin6 → be the ruin of somebody → go to rack and ruin at rack1(4)COLLOCATIONSadjectivesfinancial ruin (=when someone loses all or most of their money)She faces financial ruin after losing the court case.economic ruin (=when someone loses all their money or when a country loses a lot of its trade, industry, and wealth)Their policies have been driving this country to economic ruin for the past 13 years.political ruinThe scandal left the government on the brink of political ruin.social ruin (=when someone loses their position or rank in society)In those days, breaking off your engagement could mean social ruin.verbsface ruinMany shopkeepers are facing ruin.mean ruin (=cause ruin for someone)They fear that the proposals could mean ruin for small football clubs.spell ruin (=cause ruin for someone)Unwise investment can spell financial ruin.lead to ruinThis policy could lead to utter ruin.save somebody from ruinHe believes the invention saved him from financial ruin.phrasesbring ruin on/to somebody (=cause ruin for someone)Her behaviour brought ruin on her family.drive somebody to ruin (=cause ruin for someone)Farmers told how foot-and-mouth disease was driving them to ruin.be on the brink/verge of ruin (=be close to ruin)The recession could leave many businesses on the brink of ruin.be on the road to ruin (=be certain to happen at some time in the future)Is America on the road to ruin? Examples from the Corpus
ruin• Maybe a ruin I can fix up.• financial ruin• Even in ruin the Colosseum is a magnificent edifice of great structural interest and aesthetic splendour.• an 800-year-old Mayan ruin• But the other ruins are impressive, ample and accessible.• An exciting feature here is an underground passage leading to a cave deep beneath the ruins.• He'd seen movement in the ruin.• In a thousand years, archaeologists will be digging through the ruins of what was once San Francisco.• There seemed to be so many of them, more and more crowding silently through the ruins wherever she looked.• Sailors mobilized to search for survivors wandered through the ruins in a daze.• We visited the ruins of the old abbey.financial ruin• Milk contaminated Scientists are stepping up tests to find the source of dioxin contamination which has brought financial ruin to two farmers.• A 35-year-old lawyer faces financial ruin resulting from a serious mental illness.• Pleas that the couple and their two young children will be homeless and facing financial ruin have fallen on deaf ears.• The small businesses facing financial ruin.• In this golden period Tank also sold Peron on nuclear ideas and brought even greater financial ruin as a result.• Much of the plains' cattle industry was in financial ruin.• It would spell financial ruin and possibly the end.• Michael Joyce had not suffered financial ruin by his second emigration.From Longman Business Dictionaryruinru‧in1 /ˈruːɪn/ noun [uncountable]1when you have lost all your money, your social position, or the good opinion that people had of youThe war plunged the country into economic ruin.a company on the brink of financial ruin (=about to lose all its money)2in ruins if something is in ruins, it has great problems and cannot continuecountries whose economies are in ruinsruinruin2 verb [transitive]1to spoil or destroy something completelyThe airport’s radar failed, ruining travel plans for 30,000 people.a scandal that ruined his reputation2to make someone lose all their moneyA series of bad investment decisions threatened to ruin him.a ruined economy→ See Verb tableOrigin ruin2 (1300-1400) Old French ruine, from Latin ruina 