as in exterminations
formal
a usually violent act in which something is damaged or destroyed or in which a person or animal is killed
The town had somehow escaped the depredations of enemy soldiers.
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Recent Examples of depredations
This also lines up with the DNR’s data, which shows that most wolf depredations on hunting dogs take place during the hound training season in July and August, as well as during hunting season in the fall.
—
Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 Oct. 2025
Despite years of sitting on the sidelines, the United States has an opportunity to reassert itself in seeking to end the depredations of the junta and advance the cause of democracy in Myanmar.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Much of Russian research never fully recovered from the depredations of the Stalin era.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, Idaho Wildlife Services investigated 99 wolf depredations.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 Oct. 2025
Despite years of sitting on the sidelines, the United States has an opportunity to reassert itself in seeking to end the depredations of the junta and advance the cause of democracy in Myanmar.
—Dan Swift, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
Much of Russian research never fully recovered from the depredations of the Stalin era.
—Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, Idaho Wildlife Services investigated 99 wolf depredations.
—Nathan Rott, NPR, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredations
Noun
-
The fossil record suggests these massive creatures disappeared during the sweeping extinctions that marked the end of the Pleistocene.—
Hanna Wickes,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
17 Mar. 2026
-
In a study of 926 species across climatic zones, 47% are undergoing local extinctions, just like the lizards.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
22 Nov. 2025
Noun
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At the Church of Saint Andrew in Bucha, after viewing dozens of graphic photographs and a video display of the massacres with his EU counterparts, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was grim.—
Lorne Cook,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Mar. 2026
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Gran Grif also was blamed for an attack in the central town of Pont-Sondé in October 2024, where more than 70 people were killed in one of the biggest massacres in Haiti’s recent history.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Hands-down one of the most disgusting movies ever made (a compliment), the film finds the indefatigable slasher, who was decapitated at the end of Terrifier 2, reattaching his head and commencing his ritual slaughters.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Depredations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredations. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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