Library / English Dictionary

PREY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Animal hunted or caught for food

Synonyms:

prey; quarry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("prey" is a kind of...):

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Derivation:

prey (prey on or hunt for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence

Example:

the target of a manhunt

Synonyms:

fair game; prey; quarry; target

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("prey" is a kind of...):

victim (an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance)

Derivation:

prey (profit from in an exploitatory manner)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Prey on or hunt for

Example:

These mammals predate certain eggs

Synonyms:

predate; prey; raven

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "prey" is one way to...):

forage (wander and feed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

prey (animal hunted or caught for food)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Profit from in an exploitatory manner

Example:

He feeds on her insecurity

Synonyms:

feed; prey

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "prey" is one way to...):

exploit; work (use or manipulate to one's advantage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

prey (a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Farmers are reducing the environmental impacts of pesticide use by attracting birds of prey to their lands.

(American kestrels, most common predatory birds in U.S., can reduce need for pesticide use, National Science Foundation)

Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural prey.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The research revealed that blue sharks spent a good portion of their days using these whirling pockets of warm water to find prey.

(Blue sharks use ocean eddies as fast-tracks to food, National Science Foundation)

I likened him to some great tiger, a beast of prowess and prey.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And beyond that fire, in the circling darkness, Buck could see many gleaming coals, two by two, always two by two, which he knew to be the eyes of great beasts of prey.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The flood of fight ebbed down in him, and, releasing his prey, he turned tail and scampered on across the open in inglorious retreat.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

She might as well have said to the fire, "don't burn!" but how could she divine the morbid suffering to which I was a prey?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Social interactions within a predator species can have “evolutionary consequences” for potential prey – such as the conspicuous warning colours of insects like ladybirds.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)

The researcher said this marine animal could be dreaming, as the different colors are the same camouflage she uses when hunting and eating prey while awake.

(Octopuses can dream, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

From the video shot by the Newcastle team, Linley said it was clear there are lots of invertebrate prey down there, and the snailfish are the top predator.

(Three New Species of Fish Found at Bottom of Pacific Ocean, VOA)