devastation(DAMAGE)
C2[ U ]
a situation in which a person or company has lost all their money or their reputation: 破产;身败名裂;毁灭
on the edge/brink/verge of ruinMany companies are on the edge/brink/verge of ruin.很多公司濒临破产。
Alcohol was my ruin (= the thing that spoiled my life)酒毁掉了我的一生。
B1[ C ]
the broken parts that are left of an ancient building or town: 废墟；残垣断壁；倒塌的建筑物
We visited a Roman ruin.我们游览了一处古罗马遗址。
the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage迦太基古城遗址
 
Stefan Cristian Cioata/Moment/GettyImages
the broken parts that are left of a building or town that has been destroyed by bombs, fire, etc.:
They live in the worst of the city's bombed-out ruins.
Nine bodies lie among the smoking ruins.
 in ruins
(of a building or city) to be extremely badly damaged so that most of it has fallen down: （建筑物或城市）沦为一片废墟，成为一片残垣断壁
lie in ruinsThe town lay in ruins after years of bombing.数年的轰炸已把这座城镇变成一片废墟。
C1
to be in an extremely bad state: 完全毁坏；严重受损；垮掉
The economy was in ruins after the war.战后经济完全陷于崩溃之中。

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Damaging and spoiling
adulterant
adulterate
adulterated
adulteration
applecart
butcher
drive a wedge between someoneidiom
dry rot
eat
eat away at something
erode
foul
put something out of jointidiom
queer
rain on someone's paradeidiom
rampage
ravage
seismic
sour
wreck

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Humiliating and degrading
Things remaining
Archaeology
Destroying and demolishing

ruin | American Dictionary

ruin
verb[ T ]
us/ˈru·ɪn/
to spoil or destroy something:
It would be a shame to ruin such a beautiful place.
That guy isn’t going to ruin my life.

ruin | Business English

ruin
verb[ T ]
uk /ˈruːɪn/us
to spoil something severely or destroy it:
Huge modern hotels are ruining this once unspoilt coastline.
His frequent lateness has ruined his chances for a promotion.
to cause a person or company to lose all their money or their reputation:
Cheap imported goods are ruining many businesses.
If there's a scandal, I'll be ruined!
ruin
noun
uk /ˈruːɪn/us
[ U ]
the loss of all your money, your business, or your reputation:
Many workers are one health catastrophe away from financial ruin.
the brink/edge/verge of ruin
 be/lie in ruins
a place, building, etc. that is in ruins has been extremely badly damaged:
The showroom was in ruins after the flood.
to have failed or got into an extremely bad state:
The economy was in ruins after the war.
He lied about the company's finances, and now his career is in ruins.

Examples of ruin

ruin
Visible in the distance are ruins and palm trees.
Relating transformation to abandonment is somewhat more difficult, but in a sense the village, already partially abandoned, was transformed into ruins.
The ruined sites, in a dynamic process, become the locus for a variety of parties attuned to different agendas.
At the same time the monarchy was seen as an alien, intrusive power that ruined social relations and caused the rains to fail.
Its chief place of growth is in old quarries, or among ruins; but it is sometimes to be found in woods and hedges.
Again and again, residents and public officials - their complex motives run from the civic-minded to the selfish - tried to save the city from ruins.
The paths were ruined by buffaloes, which were driven over them in herds to be sold in towns.
In dynamical systems exhibiting chaotic itinerancy, there come to exist transition rules between attractor ruins.
It can completely ruin the lives of those of us who are affected by it.
This strong emotional response is key to the experience of ruins.
Freedom in the commons brings ruin to all.
We hope, by overturning the conventional approach to rendering, to find a way of handling ruins.
The assembly line ruined that system because it made both positive and negative reciprocity by individual workers impossible.
These lizards are found in open landscapes with moderate or little vegetation, and are common in farms, stonepiles and ruins.
Remarkable for its natural beauty, its past fertility, its historic landmarks, and its potential for investment, the small collection of villages stood in virtual ruin.
See all examples of ruin
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.