decimate

verb

dec·​i·​mate ˈde-sə-ˌmāt 

decimated; decimating

transitive verb

1

: to select by lot and kill every tenth man of

decimate a regiment

2

: to exact a tax of 10 percent from

poor as a decimated Cavalier

—John Dryden

3

a

: to reduce drastically especially in number

cholera decimated the population

Kamieniecki's return comes at a crucial time for a pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries.

—Jason Diamos

b

: to cause great destruction or harm to

firebombs decimated the city

an industry decimated by recession

decimation

ˌde-sə-ˈmā-shən 

noun

Did you know?

The connection between decimate and the number ten harks back to a brutal practice of the army of ancient Rome. A unit that was guilty of a severe crime (such as mutiny) was punished by selecting and executing one-tenth of its soldiers, thereby scaring the remaining nine-tenths into obedience. The word comes from Latin decem, meaning "ten." Decimate strayed from its "tenth" meaning and nowadays refers to the act of destroying or hurting something in great numbers.

Synonyms

• annihilate
• cream
• demolish
• desolate
• destroy
• devastate
• do in
• extinguish
• nuke
• pull down
• pulverize
• raze
• rub out
• ruin
• shatter
• smash
• tear down
• total
• vaporize
• waste
• wrack
• wreck

Examples of decimate in a Sentence

This kind of moth is responsible for decimating thousands of trees in our town.

Budget cuts have decimated public services in small towns.

Recent Examples on the Web

The population of this species was decimated as sawfish were captured in fishery bycatches, Brame said. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 29 Mar. 2024

There is no blood to speak of in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, apart from a brief, partial shot of a spatter on a deceased human under rubble after an outpost of Monarch — the agency that keeps watch over the monsters — is decimated by a creature. —Tim Lammers, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

Bedford will try to bring Life back at a time when many print publications are declining as they have been decimated by online competition. —Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024

Farmers who grow fresh fruits and vegetables are often finding crop insurance prohibitively expensive — or even unavailable — as climate change escalates the likelihood of drought and floods capable of decimating harvests. —Patrick Cooley, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2024

The slide, which officials say is currently still moving at a rate of at least one foot per week, has rendered a portion of the road inaccessible to cars and barely accessible on foot, and almost completely decimated a private driveway just off the road that leads to five houses. —Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2024

After decades of whaling decimated their numbers, humpback whales have made a remarkable comeback. —Lauren Sommer, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024

Neighborhoods southeast of Downtown San Diego were completely decimated by overrun stormwater drains and broken infrastructure. —Shane Harris, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024

In Guam, the invasive brown tree snake has become so pervasive, decimating the island’s native bird and lizard populations, that local authorities have resorted to desperate measures to try to eradicate the slithering fiends. —Sarah Fecht, Popular Science, 14 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare, from decimus tenth, from decem ten

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

decimate

verb

dec·​i·​mate ˈdes-ə-ˌmāt 

decimated; decimating

1

: to pick by lot and kill every tenth man of

the Roman army would decimate a legion for cowardice

2

: to destroy a large part of

a population decimated by an epidemic

decimation

ˌdes-ə-ˈmā-shən 

noun