depredation

noun

Definition of depredationnext
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

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.
Recent Examples of depredation Melissa Farris, 41, of Elizabethtown, was arrested on federal charges of depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans' memorials, according to previous reporting. — Lillian Metzmeier, Louisville Courier Journal, 28 Aug. 2026 She was charged with depredation against federal property and destruction of veterans’ memorials. — Liam Scott, Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2026 Plus the farmers there see it as a useful depredation tool and the locals like the meat (more on that below). — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 12 Aug. 2026 As the Shiite arc of alliance weakens from Iran to Lebanon due to the US/Israeli depredation of Tehran’s power, Sunni states look set to fill the vacuum. — Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 No amount of macho beatdowns in the UFC cage matches on the White House lawn will make anyone forget Epstein’s depredations. — Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 18 June 2026 The striped bass shark depredations have also been occurring off Chatham’s Monomoy Island — a hotspot for seals, which attract great white sharks. — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 15 June 2026 More than $1 million has reportedly been paid to rancher claimants for wildlife depredation. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 18 May 2026 His nanny was his fierce protector and insulated him from the depredations of Nazis and their enablers, baptizing him and teaching him to handily hurl anti-Jewish epithets to fit in. — Ron Kampeas, Sun Sentinel, 11 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
  1. extermination
  2. destruction
  3. extinction
  4. slaughter
  5. massacre
  6. devastation
Noun
  • The ongoing tempest includes Camille Sims (Alexandria Riley) having to prevent a Safeguard extermination as the new Head of IT this year, and the revelation of ex-security chief Robert Sims (Common) regarding Bernard (Tim Robbins).
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Decreasing habitat, poaching, and extermination are some of the reasons why cheetahs are endangered.
    — Michelle Richardson, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of extermination
Noun
  • Photos quickly spread across Telegram channels, showing where the destruction has occurred.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026
  • As rescuers carried the priest’s body away from the destruction, a photographer snapped a photo.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of destruction
Noun
  • The sport itself was, for some time, considered to be on its way to slow extinction.
    — Corey Seymour, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2026
  • But a myth about these shy, semi-nocturnal predators may have been behind the species’ extinction.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of extinction
Noun
  • They would be housed in a large, rectangular, concrete-block building that had originally been a holding pen and slaughter area for livestock.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Many leaders of the slaughter were tried and convicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal that has now closed down.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of slaughter
Noun
  • Poho said the case was about more than compensation, explaining that the effects of the massacre had been felt across the wider Sharpeville community.
    — Michelle Gumede, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Just last month, two key organizers behind what used to be the only large-scale public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on Chinese soil were found guilty of inciting subversion.
    — Chris Lau, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of massacre
Noun
  • For France, long accustomed to wildfires along arid stretches of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the devastation in Le Porge has yielded rare consensus that its fire safety system is not up to fighting mega-fires brought on by climate change.
    — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Hunter said it’s been sad to see photos of the devastation wrought by the fire.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of devastation

Browse Nearby Words

depredating
depredation
depredations
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Cite this Entry

“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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