decimatedec‧i‧mate /ˈdesɪmeɪt/ verb [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
The population has been decimated by disease.—decimation /ˌdesəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]
Word OriginWORD ORIGINdecimate
Verb TableOrigin:
1500-1600 Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare ‘to remove one tenth, kill one in ten’, from decem ‘ten’VERB TABLE
decimate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | decimate |
| he, she, it | decimates | |
| 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 |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am decimating |
| he, she, it | is decimating | |
| 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 |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Cambodia's 21-year war decimated the wildlife population.
- His prize herd of cows has been decimated by an unknown disease.
- Whiteflies have decimated the winter crop.
- Beaten by a short head possibly, but decimated, no.
- Consequently, Muir believes, biotech fish could quickly decimate a fish population by their increased ability to produce damaged young.
- Fatigue and the rigors of the climate decimated most of the seekers.
- Legal aid for the poor is being decimated.
- Sanctions have decimated the middle class-usually the source of leaders who might challenge the government.
- The army sent to meet this threat was decimated at Adrianople: the road to Rome now lay open to the barbarians.
- The transformation of the river may well decimate the considerable fishery resources already available.
Longman Language Activatorto cause death► kill
to destroy a large part of something: to cause someone's death - use this especially about accidents, diseases, or substances: · A car drove onto the pavement, killing three of Mrs Maguire's children.· The explosion killed 32 people.· The disease has already killed more than 2000 in Latin America.· Many people do not realize that these drugs are dangerous and can kill.be killed in a crash/accident etc: · James Dean was killed in a car crash in 1955.
► cause death to make someone die: · Rhubarb leaves, either raw or cooked, can cause violent stomach pains or even death.· Research is being done into the virus that caused the death of 15,000 seals last summer.· The injuries sustained by the victim were not sufficient to have caused death in a healthy person.
► kill off to cause the death of a group of plants or animals: kill off something: · It was the cold winter of 1992 that finally killed off the last of the roses.· Pollution in the lakes and streams has been killing off many species of fish.kill something off: · If you plant your seedlings out too soon, a late frost might kill them off.
► destroy to kill things, especially plants and trees, so that they can never start to grow again: · A vast amount of the Amazonian rainforest is being destroyed every day.· Milk is heat treated for a few seconds to destroy bacteria.
► be a killer if an illness is a killer , it kills a lot of people, especially because there is no cure: · In those days measles was a major killer.· Diphtheria is still a killer in many developing countries.
► wipe out to kill a complete group or race of people, or all of a type of animal or plant, so that it no longer exists: wipe out somebody/something: · The entire village was wiped out.· Archaeologists think that massive floods could have wiped out the dinosaurs.wipe somebody/something out: · The fur trade has wiped leopards out in some areas.
► decimate to kill large numbers of the people, animals, or plants in a particular place: · Cambodia's 21-year war decimated the wildlife population.· His prize herd of cows has been decimated by an unknown disease.
The population has been decimated by disease.—decimation /ˌdesəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]