505
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decimate | ˈdesəˌmāt |
verb [with object]
1 kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of: the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness | the American chestnut, a species decimated by blight.
• drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something): plant viruses that can decimate yields.
2 historical kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group: the man who is to determine whether it be necessary to decimate a large body of mutineers.
DERIVATIVES
decimator | ˈdesəˌmādər | noun
USAGE
Historically, the meaning of the word decimate is ‘kill one in every ten of (a group of people).’ This sense has been superseded by the later, more general sense ‘kill or destroy a large percentage or part of,’ as in ‘the virus has decimated the population’. Some traditionalists argue that this and other later senses are incorrect, but it is clear that these extended senses are now part of standard English. It is sometimes also argued that decimate should refer to people and not to things or animals such as weeds or insects. It is generally agreed that decimate should not be used to mean ‘defeat utterly.’
10 mates..
cuz, double meaning
keeps ka-ming