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decimate

[des-uh-mayt] / ˈdɛs əˌmeɪt /


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.

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He also called concerns that AI will decimate jobs worldwide "complete nonsense".

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

Investors have also been piling into bond markets on fears that AI advances will decimate the job market, while hotter-than-expected producer prices have clouded hopes for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026

The departures could decimate an office already struggling to deal with the surge in immigration enforcement, said B. Todd Jones, a former U.S. attorney for Minnesota.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026

Critics of the plans say the changes will decimate the Samaritans' work in local communities and have accused the charity's leadership of repeatedly ignoring requests to provide the rationale for the plans.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025

To decimate once meant “to slaughter every tenth one,” although it’s rarely used literally these days.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Snaring decimates wildlife populations and has pushed many larger mammals to local or even global extinction.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024

A farm group has called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch a price-gouging probe into the country’s top egg producer as avian flu decimates the number of hens nationwide.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 24, 2023

After the American army decimates the forces on Lubang Island, Onoda becomes the leader of a group of four remaining soldiers.

From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022

Jenkins’ injury further decimates a line that already is missing 2020 All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari as well as center Josh Myers because of knee injuries.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2021

They also procured, with much difficulty and at a high price, a quantity of lemons, for preventing or curing the scurvy, that terrible disease which decimates crews in the icy regions.

From A Winter Amid the Ice and Other Thrilling Stories by Jules Verne

Almost 250 people died, while vineyards, orange groves and plots used to grow Albufera rice, an essential paella ingredient, were decimated.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Last year, the company decimated the staff of the Merced Sun-Star, leaving it with one journalist funded through a university grant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

The floods - which decimated parts of Nepal on Wednesday and have left at least 2,426 people missing - saw the school building buried under mud and debris.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

This deadly strain of bird flu has already decimated wild bird and mammal populations worldwide.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

Soon after the British settlement of Sydney in 1788, the first of the epidemics that decimated Aboriginal Australians began.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Dissent got louder after the twin quakes that struck northern Venezuela on June 24, killing over 6,000 people and decimating hundreds of buildings.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

"He was very good at just decimating your ability to make your own decisions and have your own autonomy. And it made you more and more dependent on him," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Decades of offshoring affected the American apparel industry, decimating the profession.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

The rapper’s overhaul of the dwelling saw it reduced to little more than a concrete shell, decimating almost all of Ando’s original design — and leaving design lovers up in arms over its destruction.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 3, 2026

Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague, and other infectious diseases endemic in Europe played a decisive role in European conquests, by decimating many peoples on other continents.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond




Vocabulary lists containing decimate


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