prey

American  

[prey] / preɪ /

noun

1. an animal hunted or seized for food, especially by a carnivorous animal.

2. a person or thing that is the victim of an enemy, a swindler, a disease, etc.

   a con man looking for his next prey.

   Synonyms:

   mark, gull, dupe

3. the action or habit of preying.

   a beast of prey.

4. Archaic. booty or plunder.

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verb (used without object)

• preys,
  present (3rd person singular)
• preyed,
  past participle,  past
• preying
  present participle

1. to seize and devour prey, as an animal does (usually followed by on orupon ).

   Foxes prey on rabbits.

2. to make raids or attacks for booty or plunder.

   The Vikings preyed on coastal settlements.

3. to exert a harmful or destructive influence.

   His worries preyed upon his mind.

4. to victimize another or others (usually followed by on orupon ).

   loan sharks that prey upon poor people.

idioms

1. fall prey (to), to be victimized, harmed, or killed: fall prey to internet scams.

   chickens that fell prey to a hawk;

   fall prey to internet scams.

prey British  

/ preɪ /

noun

1. an animal hunted or captured by another for food

2. a person or thing that becomes the victim of a hostile person, influence, etc

3. an animal that preys on others for food

4. a bird that preys on others for food

5. an archaic word for booty 1

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verb

1. to hunt or seize food by killing other animals

2. to make a victim (of others), as by profiting at their expense

3. to exert a depressing or obsessive effect (on the mind, spirits, etc); weigh heavily (upon)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preyer
  noun
• unpreying
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• preying
  present
• preyed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• prey
  simple
• preys
  simple
• have preyed
  perfect
• has preyed
  perfect
• am preying
  progressive
• are preying
  progressive
• is preying
  progressive
• have been preying
  perfect progressive
• has been preying
  perfect progressive

Past

• preyed
  simple
• had preyed
  perfect
• was preying
  progressive
• were preying
  progressive
• had been preying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will prey
  simple
• will have preyed
  perfect
• will be preying
  progressive
• will have been preying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of prey

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English prei(e), preye, “booty, plunder, prey,” from Old French proie, praie, preie, from Latin praeda; akin to prehendere to grasp, seize; see prehension

Explanation

Prey is an animal hunted for food. If you're a delicious-looking deer during hunting season, watch your back! You're the prey for all those guys in orange jackets carrying rifles. Prey can also mean the human subject of an attack, or ridicule, by another person. Remember those bullies in school? The younger kids whom they shoved into lockers were their prey. Prey can also be used as a verb, meaning to hunt or go after. I bet most people would agree it's better to prey on something else than to be the preyed upon!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prey preys preyed preying

They and the other dinosaurs — a T. rex, an armored ankylosaurus, a sight-gag-worthy giant snake — adapt to the 20th century as comfortably as coyotes, skulking through backyards in search of prey.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

A pair of the rare birds of prey successfully hatched three chicks at Campfield Marsh, a wetland on the shores of Solway Firth, in Cumbria, it said.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Intron RNA had never been detected outside a cell, which made the researchers especially interested in looking for it inside the bacterium's prey.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

But we know too that to double down is to fall prey to the timeworn seduction of the sunk-cost fallacy: We’ve invested so much in this effort that to abandon it now would be worse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

It takes many summers of practice to use prey well.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

It’s a clever and nasty bit of social engineering — a bait and switch that preys on people’s curiosity and the simple pleasure of feeling included.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

"The ants it preys on have adhesive pads on their feet, so the contraction of the bundle of tension lines has to overcome a force of many times the ant's body weight to lift it."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Together, we can set an example of strong leadership that protects people rather than preys on them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

It is a market that preys on inequality and sells mothers’ bodies and babies’ lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

After all these years, Richard Parker still preys on his mind.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

During Tuesday’s sentencing, Escobedo noted Halem had preyed on individuals who “perhaps shouldn’t be seen as victims, because they were criminals themselves,” but that that didn’t excuse his actions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

During one observation, a centipede preyed on the distracted isopods while they remained caught in the swirling formation.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026

But Sebastien Desabre's remarkably brave DR Congo side caught England manager Thomas Tuchel's team off-guard with a formation shift which preyed on some of their vulnerabilities.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

“You preyed on these women’s trust and their spirituality and you manipulated them for your own personal gratification,” she told the actor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

And since there was nothing that preyed on Bast’s waking mind in this fashion, there was nothing his heart truly feared.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

"They're preying on people who have maybe a bit sympathetic, slightly paternalistic view of Down syndrome," he said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

"Kank coexisted with larger carnivores such as Maip macrothorax, a formidable megaraptorid dinosaur more than 10 metres long, which may have been capable of preying upon it," Dr. Motta adds.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

“There’s so much advice out there that isn’t wise. There’s so much out there preying on them: buy-now-pay-later, prediction markets, cryptocurrency. It’s all looming.”

From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026

Some social media users and experts say these AI takes on popular shows are nothing but cheap entertainment preying on shortened attention spans.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026

To survive, he is out there constantly preying upon others, probing for any human weakness like a ferret.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey