depopulate
to remove or reduce the population of, as by destruction or expulsion.
Archaic. depopulated.
Origin of depopulate
1Other words from depopulate
- de·pop·u·la·tion, noun
- de·pop·u·la·tive, adjective
- de·pop·u·la·tor, noun
Words Nearby depopulate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use depopulate in a sentence
For full access to a genuine voice, Hemingway argues that a writer must depopulate his or her world, physically or metaphysically.
Indeed, in the early 1770s, the movement of people westward was so large that it threatened to depopulate Britain.
“The Barbarous Years”: What 17th-Century America Really Looked Like | R.B. Bernstein | November 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTFor the benefit of trade and religion, Los Rios thinks it advisable to depopulate Macao and suppress it.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 | Emma Helen BlairA landlord who was determined to depopulate could hardly in the long run be prevented from succeeding in his object.
The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century | Richard Henry TawneyTo compel the Bishops to reside within their dioceses would depopulate the Court of Rome, and make it very much poorer.
A History of the Reformation (Vol. 2 of 2) | Thomas M. Lindsay
The principle of entailing landed estates tends to impoverish the people, drive them to emigration, and so depopulate the country.
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland: | Thomas W. SillowayTo confine man absolutely either to animal or vegetable food would be to depopulate a large part of the earth.
Genghis Khan, Makers of History Series | Jacob Abbott
British Dictionary definitions for depopulate
/ (dɪˈpɒpjʊˌleɪt) /
to be or cause to be reduced in population
Derived forms of depopulate
- depopulation, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse