Can you "destroy" a non-physical object?

Question

While browsing Wikipedia, I came across and interesting edit: replace "destroy any interest" with "obviate any interest" because "interest" can't be destroyed, like a physical object. This struck me as strange; I have often heard people talk of "destroying" non-physical objects, such as creativity, hope, and, of course, interest. No offense to the editor, who is a very active contributor to Wikipedia, but is this really true? I agree that perhaps "obviate" is a better choice of word in the context of the sentence, but I disagree with the notion that "destroy" is grammatically incorrect here.
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Greybeard · Accepted Answer

Can you “destroy” a non-physical object?

Yes - there is no doubt that you can:
OED

Destroy:
5.a. To bring to nought, put an end to; to do away with, annihilate (any institution, condition, state, quality, or thing immaterial).
1535   Bible (Coverdale) Job xiv. 18   So destroyest thou the hope of man.
1752   S. Johnson Rambler No. 193. ⁋9   Every other enjoyment malice may destroy.
1841   R. W. Emerson Intellect in Ess. 1st Ser. (London ed.) 345   Silence is a solvent that destroys personality.
c. Law. To nullify, invalidate, do away with.
1805   W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. V. 172   A power collateral to the land..cannot be destroyed by a fine, levied [etc.].
6. To counteract or neutralize the effect of; to render of no avail.
1726   Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. ix. 165   These contrary Passions..do not necessarily destroy each other.
1772   J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S. Amer. (ed. 3) I. 61   The medicine has destroyed the malignity of the poison.

fev · Answer

I guess grammatically to destroy interest is not incorrect, yet it is true that you do not often hear this expression. You can destroy somebody's dreams, image, or life, for example, but with 'interest', more often than not one hears uses like 'inhibit or disconcert someone's interest'.

Anton · Answer

Dictionaries seem unanimous in their use of destroy as a transitive verb applied to physical objects. They also include several applications to non-physical things, so I suggest there is sufficient precedent to extend the meaning of destroy to intangibles.

Eventually our problems with money destroyed our marriage
Merriam Webster

"soul-destroying"  Activities or situations that are soul-destroying make you depressed, because they are boring or because there is no hope of improvement.
Collins

Ruin (someone) emotionally or spiritually: "he has been determined to destroy her"
[Lexico](https://www.lexico.com/definition/destroy(

Can you "destroy" a non-physical object?

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