1 January 2019
depredation
[dep-ri-dey-shuh n]
noun
the act of preying upon or plundering; robbery; ravage.
Origin of depredation
1475–85; Late Latin dēpraedātiōn- (stem of dēpraedātiō) a plundering, equivalent to dēpraedāt(us) (see depredate) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
dep·re·da·tion·ist, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for depredations
Contemporary Examples
The depredations suffered by Southern blacks at the hands of white authorities had been known, at an abstract level, for decades.
The Daily Beast logo
When a Picture Is Too Powerful
Jeff Greenfield
September 15, 2014
Is it the depredations of unfettered capitalism that make people the servants of the market rather than the other way around?
The Daily Beast logo
You Say You Want a Revolution?
Christopher Dickey
June 23, 2013
Only grassroots opposition stopped, or at least limited, their depredations.
The Daily Beast logo
America’s New Oligarchs—Fwd.us and Silicon Valley’s Shady 1 Percenters
Joel Kotkin
May 14, 2013
Iran has also succumbed over the course of a cruel century, in large part because of the depredations of the Pahlavi dynasty.
The Daily Beast logo
Prince Ali Reza Pahlavi Suicide: Tragic End to Iran’s Dynasty
Stephen Kinzer
January 5, 2011
Historical Examples
He had no right to try the Begums, nor did he pretend to try them.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
What do you mean by the word rebellion, as applied to the Begums?
End of the Tether
Joseph Conrad
Now they could not be sent by the Begums in their own person.
The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido
Henry Keppel
Sheridan pleaded the cause of the Begums in what has been reckoned the finest speech ever heard in modern times.
Historical Tales, Vol. 9 (of 15)
Charles Morris
This depraved old man has clearly no feeling for symmetry of form or face; a long career of Begums has utterly vitiated his taste.
In School and Out
Oliver Optic
Today’s quote
Don’t depend too much on anyone in this world because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness.
― Ibn Taymiyyah
On this day
1 January – the eighth day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).
1 January – the official birthday for all thoroughbred horses in the Northern Hemisphere. (see 1 August for Southern Hemisphere).
1 January 1901 – Federation of Australia. The six self-governing colonies in Australia formed a single nation known as the Commonwealth of Australia.
1 January 1915 – Battle of Broken Hill. Two Turkish men shot dead four people and wounded seven others in the remote Australian town of Broken Hill, New South Wales. They claimed it was in relation to ongoing hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire.
1 January 1942 – the United Nations is established by representatives of 26 nations in order to enforce peace-keeping campaigns throughout the world. There are now 193 member states and 2 non-member states (the Holy See and Palestine).
1 January 1959 – Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba following a revolution led by Fidel Castro. Batista allegedly fled with around $700 million of art and cash, the result of graft and corruption.
1 January 1985 – the UK’s first mobile phone call is made by British comedian, Ernie Wise (from ‘Morecombe and Wise’), to Vodafone.