Depredation
noun
The act of attacking or damaging something, often for personal gain.
The harsh depredation of the invading army left the village in ruins.

Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
An act of stealing or damaging someone's property.
An insurance company usually covers losses from theft or other depredations.

noun
A reduction of something, especially natural resources, due to human activities or natural phenomena.
The depredation of rainforest by deforestation is threatening many wildlife species.

Often appears as...
- depredation of wildlife
- depredation of the environment
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The act of attacking or damaging something, often for personal gain.
The harsh depredation of the invading army left the village in ruins.

Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
An act of stealing or damaging someone's property.
An insurance company usually covers losses from theft or other depredations.

noun
A reduction of something, especially natural resources, due to human activities or natural phenomena.
The depredation of rainforest by deforestation is threatening many wildlife species.

Often appears as...
- depredation of wildlife
- depredation of the environment
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 3

Negative connotation
Depredation implies harmful actions with negative impacts, often involving violence or destruction.

Local depredations by bandits caused fear among the residents.
Human involvement
Depredation is usually a deliberate act by people, not a natural occurrence.

The ancient monument suffered from the depredation of treasure hunters.
Context specificity
When using depredation, consider if it fits the context; it's often related to large-scale or historical events.

Scholars chronicled the depredations during the empire's collapse.
Negative connotation
Depredation implies harmful actions with negative impacts, often involving violence or destruction.

Local depredations by bandits caused fear among the residents.
Human involvement
Depredation is usually a deliberate act by people, not a natural occurrence.

The ancient monument suffered from the depredation of treasure hunters.
Context specificity
When using depredation, consider if it fits the context; it's often related to large-scale or historical events.

Scholars chronicled the depredations during the empire's collapse.
Negative connotation
Depredation implies harmful actions with negative impacts, often involving violence or destruction.

Local depredations by bandits caused fear among the residents.
Human involvement
Depredation is usually a deliberate act by people, not a natural occurrence.

The ancient monument suffered from the depredation of treasure hunters.
Context specificity
When using depredation, consider if it fits the context; it's often related to large-scale or historical events.

Scholars chronicled the depredations during the empire's collapse.
Video examples
Sky Caves of Nepal, Part...
poor they have very limited control over the activities that take place in the hinterlands and so there's a difficut amount of damage and destruction and looting of these archaeological sites and even though there are thousands of caves out there in the in this region many of them have suffered the depredations of people
Video examples
Making internet widely...
know could hold the private systems to a yardstick we can see how cheap it could public systems were allowed to operate we had never seen a monopoly like the depredations of electricians in the history of the world they lied they misled everybody they had incredible
Video examples
War in Ukraine -- and...
because the impact on the poorest people around the world is vastly greater from this conflict than anything that we've seen in any of those smaller economies with less impact, despite all of the human depredation that’s happened over the past 30 years.
Video examples
Breaking the illusion of...
so melanin was recruited in our lineage and specifically in our earliest ancestors evolving in Africa to be a natural sunscreen where it protected the body against the depredations of
Video examples
Sky Caves of Nepal, Part...
poor they have very limited control over the activities that take place in the hinterlands and so there's a difficut amount of damage and destruction and looting of these archaeological sites and even though there are thousands of caves out there in the in this region many of them have suffered the depredations of people
Video examples
Making internet widely...
know could hold the private systems to a yardstick we can see how cheap it could public systems were allowed to operate we had never seen a monopoly like the depredations of electricians in the history of the world they lied they misled everybody they had incredible
Video examples
War in Ukraine -- and...
because the impact on the poorest people around the world is vastly greater from this conflict than anything that we've seen in any of those smaller economies with less impact, despite all of the human depredation that’s happened over the past 30 years.
Video examples
Breaking the illusion of...
so melanin was recruited in our lineage and specifically in our earliest ancestors evolving in Africa to be a natural sunscreen where it protected the body against the depredations of
Example 1 of 4
Quote examples
Jacob Weisberg
American Journalist
America's sanctions policy is largely consistent and, in a certain sense, admirable. By applying economic restraints, we label the most oppressive and dangerous governments in the world pariahs. We wash our hands of evil, declining to help despots finance their depredations, even at a cost to ourselves of some economic growth.

Quote examples
Ernesto Teodoro Moneta
Italian Journalist
No one painted a more accurate picture of military depredation than Vergil. Inspired though he was by the Latin spirit and by his pride in Rome, he nevertheless glorified Rome's true mission as one of providing the world with the rules of peace and justice.

Quote examples
James Stephens
Irish Poet
In that wide struggle which we call Progress, evil is always the aggressor and the vanquished, and it is right that this should be so, for without its onslaughts and depredations humanity might fall to a fat slumber upon its cornsacks and die snoring.

Quote examples
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
American Author
We are surely the primary agent of death for all members of the cat tribe. For many if not most cat species, our depredations must surpass accidents, disease, and even starvation by a considerable margin.

Quote examples
Michael Hayden
American Public Servant
Chairman Chaffetz was an enthusiastic supporter of the 'USA Freedom Act,' designed to rein in the allegedly renegade NSA and its wanton depredations of American privacy.

Quote examples
Jacob Weisberg
American Journalist
America's sanctions policy is largely consistent and, in a certain sense, admirable. By applying economic restraints, we label the most oppressive and dangerous governments in the world pariahs. We wash our hands of evil, declining to help despots finance their depredations, even at a cost to ourselves of some economic growth.

Quote examples
Ernesto Teodoro Moneta
Italian Journalist
No one painted a more accurate picture of military depredation than Vergil. Inspired though he was by the Latin spirit and by his pride in Rome, he nevertheless glorified Rome's true mission as one of providing the world with the rules of peace and justice.

Quote examples
James Stephens
Irish Poet
In that wide struggle which we call Progress, evil is always the aggressor and the vanquished, and it is right that this should be so, for without its onslaughts and depredations humanity might fall to a fat slumber upon its cornsacks and die snoring.

Quote examples
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
American Author
We are surely the primary agent of death for all members of the cat tribe. For many if not most cat species, our depredations must surpass accidents, disease, and even starvation by a considerable margin.

Quote examples
Michael Hayden
American Public Servant
Chairman Chaffetz was an enthusiastic supporter of the 'USA Freedom Act,' designed to rein in the allegedly renegade NSA and its wanton depredations of American privacy.

Example 1 of 5
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