prey

1 of 2

noun

ˈprā

plural prey also preys

Synonyms of prey next

: an animal taken by a predator as food

: one that is helpless or unable to resist attack : victim

was prey to his own appetites

: the act or habit of preying

archaic : spoil, booty

prey

2 of 2

verb

preyed; preying

intransitive verb

: to seize and devour prey

: to commit violence or robbery or fraud

: to have an injurious, destructive, or wasting effect

worry preyed upon his mind

: to make raids for the sake of booty

preyer noun

Example Sentences

Noun The lion stalked its prey. The bird circled above looking for prey. The seals are easy prey for sharks. Too often elderly people are easy prey for swindlers and other criminals.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But whether these dinosaurs were truly smart enough to take down larger prey in numbers, as depicted in popular culture, is a hypothesis that has been debated by paleontologists for decades, Frederickson says. —

Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 19 June 2023 The tsunami killed more than twenty thousand people and caused multiple nuclear meltdowns, a disastrous toll for everyone except sellers of supplements, who pivoted to prey on the baseless fears of Americans living thousands of miles away from the radiation. —

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, Popular Science, 4 May 2023 But despite their infamy for being dangerous predators, new research reveals the arachnids have become prime prey for their less lethal cousins: brown widow spiders. —

Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2023 But even on Key Largo, collaring prey will only ever be one of a suite of tactics experts use to try to keep pythons at bay. —

Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2023 In such a prey on words, rare, medium, and well done are double entendres, so that six meanings are packed into the space ordinarily occupied by just three. —

Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Mar. 2023 As for night wanderings, however, Dr. Scott and Dr. McCann may be the first to document candy-stripers’ slaying of sleeping prey. —

Lesley Evans Ogden, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2023 But many other species of viruses could also end up as prey. —

Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 21 Feb. 2023 Its briny pulp – dredged from Frank Schätzing’s 2004 novel, a Central European bestseller originally earmarked for big-screen adaptation by the late Dino De Laurentiis – preys heavily on viewer fears of ecological collapse, and what might be lurking for us all beneath the planet’s watery depths. —

Mike McCahill, Variety, 20 Feb. 2023

Verb

Golden said most animal services calls are not about wildlife actively preying on humans, children or dogs, and there is typically no danger as long as people keep their distance, pick up any food on the ground and keep small dogs and house cats inside or on a leash. —

Haeven Gibbons, Dallas News, 22 June 2023 However, that population was eroded by a combination of hunting, trapping and poisoning to prevent them from preying on livestock. —

oregonlive, 3 June 2023 Lawmakers seek answers:Legislative proposal targets 'frightening' scam rehab centers that prey on Native people Are missing persons cases tied to the centers? —

Arlyssa D. Becenti, The Arizona Republic, 26 May 2023 The what-if scenarios:Fear over AI dangers grows as some question if tools like ChatGPT will be used for evil Similar scams preying on parents and grandparents are also popping up in nearly every state in America. —

Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 16 May 2023 On its website, the FBI reminds teens that scammers prey on their fear. —

Faith Karimi, CNN, 13 May 2023 Beginning in the late 1980s, Eric Uller preyed on the most vulnerable children in the predominantly Latino neighborhoods of Santa Monica, often traveling in an unmarked police vehicle or his personal SUV, which was outfitted with police equipment, according to court records. —

Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2023 But the warning arrives a few weeks after The Washington Post chronicled how scammers are abusing voice-cloning software to prey on unsuspecting families. —

Michael Kan, PCMAG, 20 Mar. 2023 But native species have adapted, too, and python hatchlings now have a few predators: snakes, alligators and at least one bobcat that was caught on camera preying on a clutch of python eggs. —

Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prey.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.