predacious
/prɪˈdeɪʃəs
/(also predaceous)
adjective
(Of an animal) predatory: predacious insects...
- With no parental care the eggs are vulnerable to predators such as cray fish, predacious insects and small fish.
- Similarly, the tiny water flea develops a large protective ‘helmet’ when predaceous larvae of the Chaoborus fly are present in the water nearby.
- The study of mongoose prey-killing techniques points to a highly efficient killing bite used on vertebrate prey, even in the least predaceous species.
Derivatives
predaciousness
- The company didn't pursue market dominance via product excellence, but through predaciousness and intimidation.
predacity
- Meanwhile, the country continued to descend deeper into fragmentation, general pauperism, and mutual predacity.
Origin
Early 18th century: from Latin praeda 'booty' + -acious.