Destructor \De*struc"tor\, n. [L., from destruere. See
   Destroy, and cf. Destroyer.]
   1. A destroyer. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Fire, the destructor and the artificial death of
            things.                               --Boyle.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A furnace or oven for the burning or carbonizing of
      refuse; specif. (Sewage Disposal), a furnace (called in
      full

   refuse destructor) in which the more solid constituents of
      sewage are burnt. Destructors are often so constructed as
      to utilize refuse as fuel.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   3. (Computers) in object-oriented programming, a function
      which destroys an object which was previously created by a
      different function.
      [PJC]

destructor

    A function provided by a class in C++ and
   some other object-oriented languages to delete an object,
   the inverse of a constructor.

   (1998-04-28)