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Synonyms

predacious

American  
[pri-dey-shuhs] / prɪˈdeɪ ʃəs /
especially Biology, predaceous

adjective

  1. predatory; rapacious.

predacious British  
/ prɪˈdeɪʃəs, prɪˈdæsɪtɪ /

adjective

  1. (of animals) habitually hunting and killing other animals for food

  2. preying on others

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of predacious

First recorded in 1705–15; pred(atory) + -acious

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.

Predacious animals are chiefly distinguished for their nocturnal habits; and ideas of rapine, terror and blood, are ever associated with the tiger, the hyena, and the wolf.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 581, December 15, 1832 by Various

Predacious insects also consume numbers of them; one of these is the larva of a beetle, Harpalus calaginosus.

From American Pomology Apples by Warder, J. A.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.