prey
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to seize and devour prey, as an animal does (usually followed by on orupon ).
Foxes prey on rabbits.
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to make raids or attacks for booty or plunder.
The Vikings preyed on coastal settlements.
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to exert a harmful or destructive influence.
His worries preyed upon his mind.
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to victimize another or others (usually followed by on orupon ).
loan sharks that prey upon poor people.
idioms
noun
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an animal hunted or captured by another for food
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a person or thing that becomes the victim of a hostile person, influence, etc
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an animal that preys on others for food
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a bird that preys on others for food
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an archaic word for booty 1
verb
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to hunt or seize food by killing other animals
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to make a victim (of others), as by profiting at their expense
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to exert a depressing or obsessive effect (on the mind, spirits, etc); weigh heavily (upon)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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preysimple
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preyssimple
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have preyedperfect
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has preyedperfect
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am preyingprogressive
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are preyingprogressive
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is preyingprogressive
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have been preyingperfect progressive
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has been preyingperfect progressive
Past
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preyedsimple
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had preyedperfect
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was preyingprogressive
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were preyingprogressive
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had been preyingperfect progressive
Future
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!
Vocabulary lists containing prey
Tyrannosaurus Lex(icon)
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Holes
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Word Generation Science - Life Science
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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.
See Examples For:
Free roaming cats also prey on European mantises, which are already under pressure from competition with the invasive newcomers and are declining in many peri urban environments.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Its subject is Hannah Upp, a young teacher prey to dissociative fugue states in which she forgets her own identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Indian tiger biologist Ullas Karanth once led surveys of Cambodia's tigers, and said the big cats and their prey "went extinct as we watched".
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Minks also prey on ground-nesting birds such as snipe, lapwing and waterfowl, as well as kingfishers and sand martins.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
But tempus fugit, as the chiming of the library clock made clear, and since Edward Ashton had left, the time had flown faster than a keen-eyed peregrine falcon swooping earthward for its prey.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
"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
In a 2016 email exchange with Epstein, Previn referred to a teenage victim of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner as a “despicable and disgusting person who preys on the weak.”
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026
It is a market that preys on inequality and sells mothers’ bodies and babies’ lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
“It’s the type of crime that preys upon the most needy and desperate people,” Lopez said, adding that few places outside of Colorado have taken meaningful steps to crack down on immigration-related abuses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2025
After all these years, Richard Parker still preys on his mind.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
During one observation, a centipede preyed on the distracted isopods while they remained caught in the swirling formation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Chris Smith’s three-part documentary on HBO examines a 1980s New York cult that preyed on the city’s most gorgeous denizens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
That very vulnerability is what is preyed upon by perpetrators.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
The case against her was threadbare, a product of postwar rancor, false testimony and manipulative journalists who had preyed on her naivete.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Yet, taking Maggie’s confession as fact, it’s obvious that the Fox sisters preyed on vulnerable people.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
They also provide natural pest control, preying on insects such as caterpillars and aphids that can damage trees, helping to regulate insect populations and support the long-term health of the woodland.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
More than half a century before the #MeToo movement shook the global entertainment industry, Monroe denounced the Hollywood "wolves" preying on female talent.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 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
Personally, I feel like exposing this phony “folksinger” who I guess is preying on some other dedicated young girl liberal at this moment.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
