PREYED

Verb

preyed

simple past tense and past participle of prey

Anagrams

• Preedy, predye, preedy

Source: Wiktionary


PREY

Prey, n. Etym: [OF. preie, F. proie, L. praeda, probably for praeheda. See Prehensile, and cf. Depredate, Predatory.]

Definition: Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest. Num. xxxi. 12.

2. That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. Job iv. ii. Already sees herself the monster's prey. Dryden.

3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage. Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey. Shak. Beast of prey, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.

Prey, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Preyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Preying.] Etym: [OF. preier, preer, L. praedari, fr. praeda. See Prey, n.]

Definition: To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by violence. More pity that the eagle should be mewed, While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. Shak. To prey on or upon. (a) To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob. Shak. (b) To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize and devour. Shak. (c) To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away; as, the trouble preyed upon his mind. Addison.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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