It may indicate war or destruction (5)
I believe the answer is:
arrow
'it may indicate' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'war or destruction' is the wordplay.
'destruction' indicates anagramming the letters.
'war'+'or'='waror'
'waror' is an anagram of 'ARROW'.
(Other definitions for arrow that I've seen before include "It may indicate" , "broadly distinguishing old convict" , "Move quickly" , "Early guided missile" , "Arm" .)