predated; predating; predates
: to prey on (something or someone)
Animals predate other animals in nature, but that is hardly commensurate with a massive worldwide farming industry that breeds species purely for our purpose.—
Jenny Diski
Jenny DiskiAre high-profile men that sexually predate women finally starting to lose immunity?—Alex McKinnon
Alex McKinnonAll cats may predate but those living indoors have little opportunity to do so.—Kevin Stafford
Kevin StaffordThere are many species that predate on pigeons and doves.—Revati
RevatiExamples of predate in a Sentence
Verb (1)
modes of transportation that predate the car
the native people who predated European settlers in America
Recent Examples on the Web
Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Our generation still possesses experiential knowledge of decision-making processes that predate algorithmic assistance.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The subject of snails stemmed from Mercier’s long fascination with history and time — snails like alligators predate back to 500 million years ago with the only thing changing are their sizes.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
One target should be the parameters and constraints of the outdated Missile Technology Control Regime, which was designed to control missile technology proliferation and predated the drone world of today.
—Gary Roughead, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predate
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Verb
Their friendship predates these horror movies, though, as Farmiga directed Wilson’s wife Dagmara Dominczyk in the 2011 drama Higher Ground.
—Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Our generation still possesses experiential knowledge of decision-making processes that predate algorithmic assistance.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
The subject of snails stemmed from Mercier’s long fascination with history and time — snails like alligators predate back to 500 million years ago with the only thing changing are their sizes.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
One target should be the parameters and constraints of the outdated Missile Technology Control Regime, which was designed to control missile technology proliferation and predated the drone world of today.
—Gary Roughead, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predate
Cite this Entry
“Predate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predate. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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predate
verb
pre·date
(ˈ)prē-ˈdāt 
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