as in predatory
living by killing and eating other animals
the place of raptorial birds in the park's ecosystem
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Recent Examples of raptorial
Villegas pushed for the original measure after dangerous speeding and red-light running by raptorial tow drivers ended in a nearly catastrophic crash in his ward that saw a bus that had been hit by a tow truck plow through a storefront.
—
Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2025
Damsel bugs are slender and tan-colored and have slightly raptorial front legs.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2023
Massively Powerful Predators Mantis shrimps’ raptorial appendages contain massive muscles that can extend them to their full length in hundredths of a second, producing strike forces that in some species can smash through the glass wall of an aquarium or instantly dismember a crab.
—Thomas Cronin, University Of Maryland, Discover Magazine, 3 Aug. 2018
Like its adult counterparts, the little arthropod had a spiny raptorial appendage used for grasping prey and the radiodontan’s characteristic circular mouth filled with sharp teeth.
—Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 11 June 2018
Detailed testimonies of refugees along the Balkan route therefore challenge the conventional wisdom that officials tend to protect them from raptorial smugglers.
—Max Abrahms, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2017
Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 8 Apr. 2025
Damsel bugs are slender and tan-colored and have slightly raptorial front legs.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2023
Massively Powerful Predators Mantis shrimps’ raptorial appendages contain massive muscles that can extend them to their full length in hundredths of a second, producing strike forces that in some species can smash through the glass wall of an aquarium or instantly dismember a crab.
—Thomas Cronin, University Of Maryland, Discover Magazine, 3 Aug. 2018
Like its adult counterparts, the little arthropod had a spiny raptorial appendage used for grasping prey and the radiodontan’s characteristic circular mouth filled with sharp teeth.
—Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 11 June 2018
Detailed testimonies of refugees along the Balkan route therefore challenge the conventional wisdom that officials tend to protect them from raptorial smugglers.
—Max Abrahms, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raptorial
predatory
Adjective
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Why no mumblings of atonement for the predatory nature of capitalism itself, its core values and standard operating procedures no different from those of the beasts in the field?—
Henry Freedland,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Silicon Valley dreamt up poor derivations of past cautionary tales and created a monoculture of exploitative social media feeds and predatory data-hungry apps that birthed Orwell’s surveillance state.—
John Lopez,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Raptorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raptorial. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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