Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Desolate \Des"o*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Desolated}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Desolating}.]
   1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of
      inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the
      flood.

   2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a
      city.

            Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war.
                                                  --Sparks.