Prey

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Prey \Prey\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Preyed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Preying}.] [OF. preier, preer, L. praedari, fr. praeda. See
     {Prey}, n.]
     To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by
     violence.
     [1913 Webster]


  
           More pity that the eagle should be mewed,
           While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {To prey on} or {To prey upon}.
     (a) To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob.
         --Shak.
     (b) To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize
         and devour. --Shak.
     (c) To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away;
         as, the trouble preyed upon his mind. --Addison.
         [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Prey \Prey\, n. [OF. preie, F. proie, L. praeda, probably for
     praeheda. See {Prehensile}, and cf. {Depredate},
     {Predatory}.]
     Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything
     taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the
           spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest. --Num. xxxi.
                                                    12.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     2. That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be
        devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
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              The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. --Job iv.
                                                    ii.
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              Already sees herself the monster's prey. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Beast of prey}, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the
        flesh of other animals.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  prey
       n 1: a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of
            ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or
            influence; "he fell prey to muggers"; "everyone was fair
            game"; "the target of a manhunt" [syn: {quarry}, {target},
             {fair game}]
       2: animal hunted or caught for food [syn: {quarry}]
       v 1: profit from in an exploitatory manner; "He feeds on her
            insecurity" [syn: {feed}]
       2: prey on or hunt for; "These mammals predate certain eggs"
          [syn: {raven}, {predate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  79 Moby Thesaurus words for "prey":
     aim, bamboozle, beasts of venery, big game, bully, burden, butt,
     by-end, by-purpose, casualty, chase, cheat, consume, cozen,
     defraud, depress, destination, destroy, devour, distress, dupe,
     eat, end, end in view, exploit, fall guy, feed on, final cause,
     flimflam, game, go after, goal, gull, hoodwink, hunt, intimidate,
     kill, mark, martyr, mug, object, object in mind,
     object of compassion, objective, oppress, outfox, outsmart, outwit,
     poor devil, prey on, pursue, pursuit, pushover, quarry, quintain,
     reason for being, rook, seize, snooker, stalk, strain, sufferer,
     swindle, take advantage of, target, teleology, the hunted, trick,
     ultimate aim, underdog, use, venery, vex, victim, victimize,
     weigh on, weigh upon, worry, wretch