Literary notes about razed (AI summary)
The term "razed" in literature is used to describe the complete and utter demolition of a structure, town, or even a city, often accentuating themes of total destruction and irreversible change. It appears in historical narratives where conquests lead to entire cities being wiped away, as when a town was razed by Scipio [1] or when Mark Twain depicted cities and their defenses being utterly obliterated [2]. Its usage extends to dramatic recounting of events, such as the commanding act of razing a castle or the leveling of a settlement to mark decisive, often violent, ends [3, 4, 5]. This evocative diction not only indicates the physical toppling of structures but also symbolizes the sweeping, often ruthless, shifts in power and fortune that leave nothing standing.
- Scipio, of his own accord, razed the town to the ground, and received the added surname of Numantinus .
— from Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Edmund Luce - He slaughtered the people, laid waste their soil, and razed their cities to the ground.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - It fell at last, and then the walls were razed.
— from Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome - The city was razed to the ground, and the inhabitants were put in chains.
— from A Smaller History of Greece: from the Earliest Times to the Roman Conquest by William Smith - This temple had been razed to the ground by Xerxes, when he returned from Greece; as were also all the other sacred buildings of the Babylonians.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian
