predation
noun
pre·da·tion
| \ pri-ˈdā-shən
\
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Definition of predation
1
: the killing by one living organism of another for food
These small fish are most vulnerable to predation just after sunset, when larger fish, such as barracuda and jacks, chase them into the shallow water near shore to feed on them.— Anne Brooke … elephant seals historically avoided the mainland to protect the newborns from predation by grizzly bears.— Carolyn Longstreth In other words, just as vascular plants make tannins, phenols, sterols and alkaloids to defend against predation, it is likely that cyanobacteria synthesize poisons to ward off attack by fellow planktonic species.— Wayne Carmichael
: a mode of life in which food is primarily obtained by the killing and consuming of animals
Predation is important to an understanding of ancient ecology because the food chain helps determine the structure of biological communities.— Derek Briggs and Harry Whittington Weeks or months later, depending on ambient temperatures, a beetle returns to the water to resume a life of predation. — Natural History
2
: the act of injuring, exploiting, or plundering others for personal gain
A burglary occurs every 10 seconds, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Such predation keeps Americans uneasy… — Consumer Reports To the traditionalists, predation is any price or product strategy intended to impose costs on a competitor. — Insight
Examples of predation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cambroraster clearly illustrates that predation was a big deal at that time with many kinds of surprising morphological adaptations. — Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, "A face only a mother Cambroraster could love: Canadian paleontologists find new creature in Burgess Shale," 1 Aug. 2019 Worse, the dry conditions meant poor growth of grasses and other low-growing herbaceous plants, which limited nesting cover for hens and making those nests more vulnerable to predation. — Shannon Tompkins, ExpressNews.com, "Texas turkeys thriving after mild, wet spring," 8 June 2019 Their predation gives rise, more often than not, to retribution killings as well. — Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, "How the New Lion King Film Could Help the Real-Life Lion Crisis," 1 Aug. 2019 All these predators relied for years on a community of people who actively enabled their predations or who conveniently looked away. — Mary Schmich, chicagotribune.com, "Column: When a sexual predator’s crimes rely on an entourage," 12 July 2019 Reducing coyote populations could result in higher losses of some wildlife such as quail or turkey by increasing predation by other species. — Shannon Tompkins, ExpressNews.com, "Meet the coyote, one of nature’s great tricksters," 13 June 2019 Second, beetle predation on eggs hasn’t yet been observed in the wild. — Jason Bittel, National Geographic, "Brutal beetles kept world’s rarest fish from breeding—until now," 1 Mar. 2019 The woman’s allegations, published anonymously on a now-defunct website, sounded like a garden-variety bad date to some and predation to others. — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, "Aziz Ansari's Netflix Special Will Make You Laugh—Awkwardly," 10 July 2019 At other white shark hot spots around the world there is always a kill zone — a place where more predation events occur. — Dan Snierson, EW.com, "Shark Week 2019 schedule: Your guide to all 18 specials," 10 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'predation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for predation
predation
noun
English Language Learners Definition of predation
technical
: the act of killing and eating other animals : the act of preying on other animals
See the full definition for predation in the English Language Learners Dictionary