depredation

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by WingerBot (talk | contribs) as of 14:54, 28 September 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: déprédation

English

Etymology

From Middle French déprédation, from Latin depraedatio.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˌdɛpɹəˈdeɪʃən/

Noun

depredation (countable and uncountable, plural depredations)

  1. An act of consuming agricultural resources (crops, livestock), especially as plunder.
    • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 61:
      An animal that produces only two to four young per year cannot suffer vast depredations on the adult population without drastic effects.
    • 2003, The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation, by R. Sukumar, page 299:
      Depredation of cultivated crops by elephants is widespread in both Africa and Asia.
  2. A raid or predatory attack.
    Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had long known that his fragile supply and communication lines through Tennessee were in serious jeopardy because of depredations by Forrest's cavalry raids. (Battle of Brice's Crossroads)

Translations