Decimate — Dec i*mate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Decimated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Decimating}.] [L. decimatus, p. p. of decimare to decimate (in senses 1 & 2), fr. decimus tenth. See {Decimal}.] 1. To take the tenth part of; to tithe. Johnson. [1913 Webster] 2. To… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
decimate — ► VERB 1) kill or destroy a large proportion of. 2) drastically reduce the strength of. DERIVATIVES decimation noun. USAGE The earliest sense of decimate was ‘kill one in every ten of’, a reference to the ancient Roman practice of killing one in… … English terms dictionary
decimate — index destroy (efface), diminish, disarm (divest of arms), eliminate (eradicate), lessen, minimize … Law dictionary
decimate — c.1600, in reference to the practice of punishing mutinous military units by capital execution of one in every 10, by lot; from L. decimatus, pp. of decimare (see DECIMATION (Cf. decimation)). Killing one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious … Etymology dictionary
decimate — [v] destroy annihilate, butcher*, commit genocide, execute, exterminate, kill off, massacre, obliterate, slaughter, stamp out, wipe out; concept 252 … New thesaurus
decimate — [des′ə māt΄] vt. decimated, decimating [< L decimatus, pp. of decimare < decem, TEN] 1. Obs. to select by lot and kill every tenth one of 2. to destroy or kill a large part of [famine decimated the population] 3. Obs. to take a tenth part… … English World dictionary
decimate — [[t]de̱sɪmeɪt[/t]] decimates, decimating, decimated 1) VERB To decimate something such as a group of people or animals means to destroy a very large number of them. [V n] The pollution could decimate the river s thriving population of kingfishers … English dictionary
decimate — decimation, n. decimator, n. /des euh mayt /, v.t., decimated, decimating. 1. to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague. 2. to select by lot and kill every tenth person of. 3. Obs. to take a tenth of or… … Universalium
decimate — verb Decimate is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑injury Decimate is used with these nouns as the object: ↑army … Collocations dictionary
decimate — UK [ˈdesɪmeɪt] / US [ˈdesɪˌmeɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms decimate : present tense I/you/we/they decimate he/she/it decimates present participle decimating past tense decimated past participle decimated to spoil or destroy something, for… … English dictionary
