Meaning of DECIMATE
| Pronunciation: | | 'desu`meyt
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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- [v] kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population"
- [v] kill one in every ten of, as of mutineers in Roman armies
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| | Synonyms: | | annihilate, carry off, eliminate, eradicate, extinguish, wipe out |
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| | See Also: | | kill | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Dec"i*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Decimated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Decimating}.] [L. decimatus, p. p. of decimare to
decimate (in senses 1 & 2), fr. decimus tenth. See
{Decimal}.]
1. To take the tenth part of; to tithe. --Johnson.
2. To select by lot and punish with death every tenth man of;
as, to decimate a regiment as a punishment for mutiny.
--Macaulay.
3. To destroy a considerable part of; as, to decimate an army
in battle; to decimate a people by disease.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | annihilate, bring to ruin, butcher, commit carnage, commit genocide, commit mass murder, condemn, confound, consume, damn, deal destruction, demolish, depopulate, depredate, desolate, despoil, destroy, devastate, devour, dissolve, engorge, exterminate, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, havoc, incinerate, lay in ruins, lay waste, massacre, murder wholesale, ravage, raze, ruin, ruinate, shipwreck, slaughter, slay en masse, swallow up, throw into disorder, unbuild, undo, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, vandalize, vaporize, waste, wipe out, wrack, wreak havoc, wreck |
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