preyed (on or upon) 1 of 2

preyed (on or upon)

2 of 2

verb

past tense of prey (on or upon)
as in fed (on, upon, or off)
to seize and eat (something) as prey a fox has been preying on the chickens

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for preyed (on or upon)
Adjective
  • On the monument to those killed, arrows point outward to Pennsylvania, where unarmed strikers were killed at the Lattimer mine in 1897, and to South Africa, where peaceful protesters were killed at an anti-apartheid rally in Sharpeville in 1960.
    Lauren Frayer, NPR, 19 Apr. 2025
  • Other policies reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system – such as alternative 911 response programs that use unarmed behavioral health workers to respond to some types of emergencies.
    Christopher S. Warshaw, The Conversation, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Concerns over substandard farmworker housing intensified after a 2023 mass shooting in Half Moon Bay drew attention to the unsafe and often overlooked living conditions of the region’s agricultural workforce.
    Ryan Macasero, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Dujarric said that nearly 90% of water infrastructure – including wells, pumping stations, and sewage plants – had been destroyed or damaged by hostilities, exacerbating disease risks and forcing families to rely on unsafe sources.
    Abeer Salman, CNN Money, 17 Apr. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Preyed (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preyed%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 1 May. 2025.

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