depopulate
[verb dee-pop-yuh-leyt; adjective dee-pop-yuh-lit, -leyt]
- to remove or reduce the population of, as by destruction or expulsion.
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- Archaic. depopulated.
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Origin of depopulate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for depopulate
murder, annihilate, exterminate, slay, butcher, decimate, slaughter, denude, depopulate, devastate, pillage, ruin, sack, despoil, plunder, devour, waste, desecrate, maraud, vandalizeExamples from the Web for depopulate
Contemporary Examples of depopulate
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.
Historical Examples of depopulate
"To get rid of them you'd have to depopulate the country," said Jason Jones.
Mary Louise Solves a MysteryL. Frank Baum
While out riding he discovered the colony and at once resolved to depopulate it.
In Beaver WorldEnos Abijah Mills
Poverty, death, and emigration then began to depopulate Paris.
Economic SophismsFrederic Bastiat
Leopold seems to be doing his best to depopulate the country.
SambaHerbert Strang
It has converted the valley into a desert, and will depopulate it.
CalavarRobert Montgomery Bird
depopulate
- to be or cause to be reduced in population
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for depopulate
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper