as in extermination
formal
a usually violent act in which something is damaged or destroyed or in which a person or animal is killed
The town had somehow escaped the depredations of enemy soldiers.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
Noun
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The man, a Mexican national, pleaded not guilty to assaulting a federal officer, assaulting a federal officer resulting in bodily injury and destruction of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.—
Caleb Lunetta,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Aug. 2025 -
According to the sprawling 109-page indictment, the suspects conspired to prevent the construction of an 85-acre Atlanta police training center by coordinating and carrying out acts of political violence, intimidation, and property destruction.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The hearty creatures, once systemically slaughtered by European settlers to the detriment of Native American tribes, are now grazing their way back from the brink of extinction.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
Denver Post,
7 Aug. 2025
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Eighteenth-century naturalists debated the concept of extinction even as rattlers—like Native Americans—were driven out of existence in many areas via bounties, community-wide kill-a-thons, and militias.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Some 4% of the cattle the U.S. feeds to slaughter for beef comes from Mexico.—
Josh Funk,
Chicago Tribune,
18 July 2025
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The goal of preserving and strengthening the bear population is fundamentally at odds with a pre-holiday slaughter.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 July 2025
Noun
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His original response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of Israelis and others certainly was expected — a death penalty for the Palestinian terrorists who make even their own people suffer.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
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These same groups later carried out many of the grisly sectarian massacres of Alawite civilians along Syria’s coastal Latakia province in March, which killed at least 1,479, mostly civilians, following attacks by remnants of the former Assad regime.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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