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.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
Noun
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The path of destruction stretched about 11 miles in the city outside Tulsa, and radar indicated a possible tornado had formed, according to a statement from city government.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2025 -
On March 28, an individual who had been missing since Helene's destruction was found and identified as 66-year-old Russell Wilber, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Wednesday.—
Megan Forrester,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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As the Earth's climate cooled and the oceans' ecosystems changed, Megalodon may have struggled to find sufficient food, leading to its extinction.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin had an emotional meeting with a pair of dire wolves, but many fans have shared the same unimpressed response, not quite able to believe a species was brought back from extinction before Martin finished the next book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Namely: Who bears responsibility for the slaughter of the season?—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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That concept of freedom might be better exemplified by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, another Third World death cult that promised liberation and promoted slaughter — and that came with its own prominent apologists on American college campuses.—
Bret Stephens,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In 2007, the British journalist David Litchfield wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that guests at a ball at Schloss Rechnitz were invited to shoot Jews for sport—a claim disputed by historians, who do not dispute that the massacre took place.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Trump got a temporary reprieve when the markets closed Friday at 4 p.m., but expect the massacre to resume this morning at 9:30 when the opening bell rings at the New York Stock Exchange.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
7 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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