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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Recent Examples of depredation
The pack consists of up to 15 wolves of various ages roaming federal public land near an active cattle grazing allotment, where many of the depredation incidents took place, according the memo.
—
John Leos, AZCentral.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Researchers looked at wolf abundance, the number killed in wolf hunting and by government removals, and livestock depredation in those states from 2005 to 2001, and found that the amount of livestock saved by killing a single wolf, roughly equaled 7% of a single cow.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
McQueen has claimed that depredations on livestock and pets by wolves in her county have become a public safety concern.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 14 Aug. 2025
Scientists who study sharks acknowledge that depredation — the act of fish being eaten by an underwater predator while on a fisherman’s line — is a growing concern in some areas, especially Florida.
—Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025
John Leos, AZCentral.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Researchers looked at wolf abundance, the number killed in wolf hunting and by government removals, and livestock depredation in those states from 2005 to 2001, and found that the amount of livestock saved by killing a single wolf, roughly equaled 7% of a single cow.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
McQueen has claimed that depredations on livestock and pets by wolves in her county have become a public safety concern.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 14 Aug. 2025
Scientists who study sharks acknowledge that depredation — the act of fish being eaten by an underwater predator while on a fisherman’s line — is a growing concern in some areas, especially Florida.
—Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
Noun
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Yet this divide-and-conquer approach, combined with the relentless attacks on civilians, has also entrenched resistance among ordinary Gazans, who now perceive Israel as undertaking a war of extermination.—
Leila Seurat,
Foreign Affairs,
26 Aug. 2025
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Palestinians and Israeli Jews also came to regard the other side’s actions as fulfillments of their own national nightmares, ethnic cleansing for one and extermination for the other.—
Hussein Agha,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The developing cauldron would trap Russian troops with few options beyond surrender or destruction.—
David Kirichenko,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Earth, meanwhile, has so far been unable to bring about its own destruction.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The story of the American lion is a tale of power, survival and eventual extinction.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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He was not involved in the latest research but has studied trends in insect extinction, noting that many insect genera have survived mass extinctions unscathed.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Warned by ornithologists that killing an insectivorous bird that also ate grain seeds would lead to a surge in locusts and caterpillars, Mao dismissed such arguments and urged mass slaughter.—
Scott Montgomery,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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The slaughter of the innocents that follows the birth of Jesus in the Book of Matthew is depicted by limp infants that Gaudí modelled on casts of actual stillborn babies.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The shooting at Evergreen High is at least the seventh school shooting in Colorado since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School that killed 13 students and one teacher.—
Katie Langford,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
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Sheriff Tony later condemned his deputies’ failures, including their inaction on removing Nathan’s firearms or seeking a court order under Florida’s red flag law, passed after the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Rosie O'Donnell recalled her devastation over how her friendship with Ellen DeGeneres fell apart more than 20 years ago.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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Indeed, moves toward open Saudi diplomatic recognition of Israel were stopped by Hamas’ attack and the global backlash that followed Israel’s ongoing devastation of Gaza.—
David Mednicoff,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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