From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdecimatedec‧i‧mate /ˈdesɪmeɪt/ verb [transitive] DESTROYto destroy a large part of something The population has been decimated by disease. —decimation /ˌdesəˈmeɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
decimate• Legal aid for the poor is being decimated.• Consequently, Muir believes, biotech fish could quickly decimate a fish population by their increased ability to produce damaged young.• The army sent to meet this threat was decimated at Adrianople: the road to Rome now lay open to the barbarians.• His prize herd of cows has been decimated by an unknown disease.• Fatigue and the rigors of the climate decimated most of the seekers.• Beaten by a short head possibly, but decimated, no.• The transformation of the river may well decimate the considerable fishery resources already available.• Sanctions have decimated the middle class-usually the source of leaders who might challenge the government.• Cambodia's 21-year war decimated the wildlife population.• Whiteflies have decimated the winter crop.Origin decimate (1500-1600) Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare “to remove one tenth, kill one in ten”, from decem “ten” 