decimate

From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdecimatedec‧i‧mate /ˈdesɪmeɪt/ verb [transitive] DESTROYto destroy a large part of something The population has been decimated by disease. —decimation /ˌdesəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb table Examples from the Corpusdecimate• Legal aid for the poor is being decimated.• Consequently, Muir believes, biotech fish could quickly decimate a fish population by their increased ability to produce damaged young.• The army sent to meet this threat was decimated at Adrianople: the road to Rome now lay open to the barbarians.• His prize herd of cows has been decimated by an unknown disease.• Fatigue and the rigors of the climate decimated most of the seekers.• Beaten by a short head possibly, but decimated, no.• The transformation of the river may well decimate the considerable fishery resources already available.• Sanctions have decimated the middle class-usually the source of leaders who might challenge the government.• Whiteflies have decimated the winter crop.Origin decimate (1500-1600) Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare "to remove one tenth, kill one in ten", from decem "ten"

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Word of the day casual relaxed and not worried, or seeming not to care about something

Verb table

decimate

Simple Form

Present

I, you, we, they decimate

he, she, it decimates

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Past

I, you, he, she, it, we, they decimated

Present perfect

I, you, we, they have decimated

he, she, it has decimated

Past perfect

I, you, he, she, it, we, they had decimated

Future

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will decimate

Future perfect

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will have decimated

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Continuous Form

Present

I am decimating

he, she, it is decimating

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you, we, they are decimating

Past

I, he, she, it was decimating

you, we, they were decimating

Present perfect

I, you, we, they have been decimating

he, she, it has been decimating

Past perfect

I, you, he, she, it, we, they had been decimating

Future

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will be decimating

Future perfect

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will have been decimating

> View Less

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