PREY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Prey

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noun

Prey n.

Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder. "And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest."

That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim. "The old lion perisheth for lack of prey." "Already sees herself the monster's prey."

The act of devouring other creatures; ravage. "Hog in sloth, fox in stealth,... lion in prey."

Beast of prey, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.

verb

Prey v. i. (past & past part. preyed; pres. part. preying) To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by violence. "More pity that the eagle should be mewed, While kites and buzzards prey at liberty."

To prey on or To prey upon.

(a)

To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob.

(b)

To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize and devour.

(c)

To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away; as, the trouble preyed upon his mind.

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Etymology of 'Prey'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Prey" Quotes from Famous Books

... receive the animal, doubtful whether I ought to make the attack; Lily, in the meantime, continuing to cry aloud for help. The wolf at length seemed to get tired of waiting for his expected prey, and giving a fierce howl, he was on the point of springing at me, when a bullet fired by an unseen hand laid him dead ...

— Afar in the Forest • W.H.G. Kingston

... natural gifts were poor To those of mine! But virtue—as it never will be moved Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel linked, Will sate itself in a celestial bed, And prey on garbage." ...

— A Dish Of Orts • George MacDonald

... men's physique became lowered. Septic sores were general; bad eyes, not infrequent; jaundice of a type indicating para-typhoid was common; amoebic dysentery very prevalent. Loss of health meant loss of vigour. Limited to one bottle of water a day for all purposes, and perpetually a prey to flies, heat, diarrhoea and want of rest, the soldier had a trying time. Rations of a type welcome in a northern climate were unpalatable in Turkey. In July and August we were liberally supplied with vegetables and raisins, and ...

— With Manchesters in the East • Gerald B. Hurst

... "because the prey is now before thy hand. The sons of Sigfus rode by a while ago, and mean to sleep the whole day east in Carlinedale, for they mean to go no farther to-night ...

— The story of Burnt Njal - From the Icelandic of the Njals Saga • Anonymous

... proscribed, hunted down (they and their friends made a bye-word of), so that it has become an understood thing that no one can live by his talents or knowledge who is not ready to prostitute those talents and that knowledge to betray his species, and prey upon his fellow-man.... In private life do we not see hypocrisy, servility, selfishness, folly, and impudence succeed, while modesty shrinks from the encounter, and merit is trodden under foot? How often is 'the rose plucked from the forehead of a virtuous love to plant a blister ...

— Hazlitt on English Literature - An Introduction to the Appreciation of Literature • Jacob Zeitlin

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