decimate
verb (used with object)
to kill or destroy a great number or proportion of.
had decimated
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past perfectof decimate.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shoppers could hardly find eggs in stores early last year, a period when producers said avian flu had decimated the hen population.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The charity, the Donkey Sanctuary, called the the trade "brutal and unsustainable" and said it had decimated donkey populations around the world, particularly in Africa and South America.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2024
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whose District 6 includes the SoMa neighborhood, said that crime issues also had decimated staff positions at a nearby day-care center used by the federal employees.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
By January 1804, through successful guerrilla tactics, Black revolutionaries had decimated the French army, already suffering an outbreak of yellow fever, to create the Haitian nation.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
From my spot, I surveyed the scenery and noticed few signs of the war that had decimated our lives.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
