English Dictionary |
DECIMATE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does decimate mean?
• DECIMATE (verb)
The verb DECIMATE has 2 senses:
1. kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies
Familiarity information: DECIMATE used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Conjugation: |
Past simple: decimated
Past participle: decimated
-ing form: decimating
Sense 1
Meaning:
Kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "decimate" is one way to...):
kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)
Verb group:
annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; eradicate; extinguish; wipe out (kill in large numbers)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sense 2
Meaning:
Kill in large numbers
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
annihilate; carry off; decimate; eliminate; eradicate; extinguish; wipe out
Context example:
the plague wiped out an entire population
Hypernyms (to "decimate" is one way to...):
kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)
Verb group:
decimate (kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
decimation (destroying or killing a large part of the population (literally every tenth person as chosen by lot))
Context examples
That keeps seagrasses — which grazers like dugongs and other marine animals eat — from being decimated.
(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)
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