Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Prey
Prey
,Noun.
[OF.
preie
, F. proie
, L. praeda
, probably for praeheda
. See Prehensile
, and cf. Depredate
, Predatory
.] Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
And they brought the captives, and the
prey
, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest. Num. xxxi. 12.
2.
That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
The old lion perisheth for lack of
prey
. Job iv. ii.
Already sees herself the monster’s
prey
. Dryden.
3.
The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in
prey
. Shakespeare
Beast of prey
, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.
Prey
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Preyed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preying
.] To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by violence.
More pity that the eagle should be mewed,
While kites and buzzards
While kites and buzzards
prey
at liberty. Shakespeare
To prey on
or To prey upon
(a)
To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob
. Shak.
(b)
To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize and devour.
Shak.
(c)
To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away;
as, the trouble
. preyed upon
his mindAddison.
Webster 1828 Edition
Prey
PREY
,Noun.
1.
Spoil; booty; plunder; goods taken by force from an enemy in war. And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses and Eleazar the priest. Num.31.
In this passage,the captives are distinguished from prey. But sometimes persons are included.
They [Judah] shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies. 2 Kings 21.
2.
That which is seized or may be seized by violence to be devoured; ravine. The eagle and the hawk dart upon their prey. She sees herself the monster's prey.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. Job.4.
3.
Ravage; depredation. Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, lion in prey.
Animal or beast of prey, is a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals. The word is applied to the larger animals, as lions, tigers, hawks, vultures, &c. rather than to insects; yet an insect feeding on other insects may be called an animal of prey.
PREY
,Verb.
I.
1.
To feed by violence, or to seize and devour. The wolf preys on sheep; the hawk preys on chickens.2.
To corrode; to waste gradually; to cause to pine away. Grief preys on the body and spirits; envy and jealousy prey on the health. Language is too faint to show
His rage of love; it preys upon his life;
He pines, he sickens, he despairs, he dies.
Definition 2024
prey
prey
English
Noun
prey (countable and uncountable, plural preys)
- (archaic) Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
- Bible, Numbers xxxi. 12
- And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest.
- Bible, Numbers xxxi. 12
- That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
- Dryden
- Already sees herself the monster's prey.
- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
- [The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk […]
- Dryden
- A living thing that is eaten by another living thing.
- Bible, Job iv. ii
- The old lion perisheth for lack of prey.
- 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
- Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
- The rabbit was eaten by the coyote, so the rabbit is the coyote's prey.
- Bible, Job iv. ii
- The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
- Shakespeare
- Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, […] lion in prey.
- Shakespeare
- The victim of a disease.
Translations
booty, anything taken by force
that which may be seized by animals
|
ravage
victim of a disease
|
Verb
prey (third-person singular simple present preys, present participle preying, simple past and past participle preyed)
- (intransitive) To act as a predator.
- 2001, Karen Harden McCracken, The Life History of a Texas Birdwatcher (page 278)
- The ridge had been a haven for birds and small earth creatures, creeping, crawling, and hopping in a little world of balanced ecology where wild things preyed and were preyed upon […]
- 2001, Karen Harden McCracken, The Life History of a Texas Birdwatcher (page 278)
Related terms
References
- prey in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913