| Front | depredate \DEP-ruh-dayt\ |
|---|---|
| Back | verb 1. To lay waste: plunder, ravage. 2. To engage in plunder. ["Depredate" derives primarily from the Latin verb "praedari," meaning "to plunder," an ancestor to our words "predator" and "prey." First appearing in English in the 17th century, the word most commonly appears in contexts relating to nature and ecology, where it is often used to describe the methodical, almost automatic destruction of life. That's how the film critic Stanley Kauffman, for example, summarized the plot of the famous horror movie Jaws (1975): "A killer shark depredates the beach of an island summer resort. Several people are killed. Finally, the shark is killed. That's the story."] |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Anomie anomy an-uh-mee noun social instability alienation caused
Previous card: Moue french moo plural moues noun pout grimace.
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary