The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

chiefly Brit make a balls-up of: I think that your behaviour at
the office party may just have ruined your prospects for
promotion. 10 bankrupt, pauperize, impoverish, reduce to penury
or poverty or destitution or indigence: Paying off the loan
virtually ruined me. 11 violate, deflower, ravish, seduce, lead
astray, dishonour, defile, corrupt, debase, defile: She claimed
that it was the local squire who ruined her, despite evidence to
the contrary.
ruinous adj. disastrous, destructive, catastrophic, calamitous,
deleterious, pernicious, crippling, cataclysmic, baleful, fatal,
toxic, poisonous, noxious, harmful, injurious, nasty, Archaic
baneful: Smoking can be ruinous to your health. Who was behind
the ruinous decision to move the factory to the north-east?
rule n. 1 regulation, order, law, ordinance, ruling, decree, ukase,
statute, principle, direction, guide, guideline, precept: We go
by the Golden Rule here, Jim, 'Do unto others before they do
unto you'. 2 dominion, authority, control, sovereignty, sway,
command, ascendancy, direction, oversight, supervision, mastery:
How could such a despised monarch maintain rule over a people
for so long? 3 fact, standard, customs, practice, form, routine,
convention, policy, way things are: Honesty and integrity among
our students are the rule rather than the exception. 4 as a
rule. generally, usually, normally, customarily, for the most
part, mostly, ordinarily, mainly, in the main, chiefly, on the
whole, commonly, more often than not: As a rule, we require
payment in advance.
--v. 5 Sometimes, rule over. reign (over), govern, be in
control or charge or command (of or over), be in power (over),
hold sway (over), wield the sceptre, wear the crown, run;
prevail, hold sway, dominate, predominate, control: The hand
that rocks the cradle rules the world. Supposedly, the majority
rules in a democracy. 6 direct, guide, manage, control, lead,
head (up), preside (over), superintend, oversee, supervise,
regulate, govern, run: The company is ruled by a committee made
up of employees and directors. 7 decide, judge, hand down a
judgement or decision, decree, deem, resolve, settle, determine,
find, declare, pronounce: The referee ruled that Jones had
committed a foul. 8 rule out. ban, bar, prohibit, exclude,
eliminate, forbid, preclude, proscribe, negate, dismiss,
disregard, bypass, ignore, overlook: The programme committee