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
Despite years of sitting on the sidelines, the United States has an opportunity to reassert itself in seeking to end the depredations of the junta and advance the cause of democracy in Myanmar.
—
Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Four people were arrested, and three were charged felony offenses of assaulting a federal officer, while the fourth was charged with misdemeanor offense of depredation of government property, according to a Department of Justice press release.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
Much of Russian research never fully recovered from the depredations of the Stalin era.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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
Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Four people were arrested, and three were charged felony offenses of assaulting a federal officer, while the fourth was charged with misdemeanor offense of depredation of government property, according to a Department of Justice press release.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2025
Much of Russian research never fully recovered from the depredations of the Stalin era.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
Noun
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Besides extermination, these companies also may be able to assist with locating and sealing entry points or making other recommendations for exclusion.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
1 Oct. 2025
-
An extermination of the brutes in the Middle East, presided over by Obama’s successors, has been followed by a swift cancellation by Trumpian decree of the postracial age.—
Pankaj Mishra,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Wildcats hold a 10-8 edge over the Horned Frogs in their all-time series, including a 41-3 destruction of TCU in 2023 at Manhattan in the teams’ last meeting.—
Jim Barnes,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Cyrus — who married Hemsworth, 35, the following month after the destruction, before later separating in August 2019 — was left to grieve the many memories that were lost.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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That has left dozens of species on the verge of extinction.—
Eyder Peralta,
NPR,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The Upper Cretaceous period, or late Cretaceous, represented the last true age of dinosaurs, stretching from about 100 million years ago to their extinction 66 million years ago.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Matt Jones and Christina Long discuss whats next for Arkansas football after the Notre Dame slaughter on Saturday.—
Christina Long,
Arkansas Online,
29 Sep. 2025
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The 1994 slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda became the paradigmatic example, prosecuted at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and recognized by the UN Security Council.—
Faisal Kutty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The university also produced John Morse, a former Colorado senate president who earned national attention for his leadership in passing gun control legislation following the Aurora theater shooting and Sandy Hook massacre.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
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On the day of the massacre, the shooter opened and walked through the west door with no hindrance, though it had been pulled shut by a teacher.—
Matthew J. Friedman,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Murderers Bar shows us the sum of industrial achievement and the stakes of its devastation, human-made but altogether more than human.—
Anne Reeve,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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The new season will not lack for Academy Award hopefuls – among them, All the Walls Came Down, Ondi Timoner’s documentary about the devastation of the Eaton Fire in the Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles and efforts to rebuild.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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