plural prey also preys
preyed; preying
1
a
: to seize and devour prey
b
: to commit violence or robbery or fraud
2
: to have an injurious, destructive, or wasting effect
worry preyed upon his mind
3
: to make raids for the sake of booty
preyer
noun
Synonyms
Examples of prey in a Sentence
Noun
The lion stalked its prey.
The bird circled above looking for prey.
The seals are easy prey for sharks.
Too often elderly people are easy prey for swindlers and other criminals.
Recent Examples on the Web
TIME, 18 Apr. 2024
According to the Smithsonian, a female cicada killer finds her cicada prey in trees and captures them in flight, paralyzing them with a venomous sting.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2024
Their supplemental diet also gives them a predatory advantage over wild prey, who don’t have a doting human refilling their bowls daily.
—Colleen Grablick, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
The organ looks like a gap in the scales covered by a membrane and allows the snakes to triangulate the location of possible prey, even in the dark, the museum says.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
Asparagus foragers look forward to the season, and hunt for their prey in ditches, ravines, next to streams and in various places near fresh water.
—Katie Workman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2024
Remain Vertical and Avoid Wearing Bright Swim Suits Remaining vertical will prevent you from looking like prey to the shark, according to the organization.
—Char Adams, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
Stand up straight to not look like prey, the park service stated, and keep eye contact with the cougar.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2024
The researchers also uncovered the remains of several small triangular points, which tantalizingly rank among the earliest examples of the use of archery and provide clues that the site’s inhabitants might have used bows and arrows to hunt fish and other larger prey.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024
Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Tense, disturbing, riveting, Alex Garland’s dystopian film Civil War examines an existential threat preying on the American sub-conscious: What would happen if the political and social divisions cleaving the United States ultimately collapse the nation into the abyss?
—Eisa Nefertari Ulen, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
The head of the gang had been sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2016 for preying on motorists but was released to serve in Ukraine.
—Milana Mazaeva, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
There’s also an inherent class critique in Ripley’s ability to prey upon these privileged expatriates, the proverbial shark among minnows.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
How to Catch Crappie in Windy Conditions Wave action creates cloudy water perfect for ambushes, and crappie emerge from channels to prey on bait feeding on windblown plankton.
—Don Wirth, Field & Stream, 4 Apr. 2024
The disease was deemed fatal in owls who preyed on pigeons.
—USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024
Neither Israeli troops nor the Hamas police force is on the streets, leaving citizens prey to a dangerous breakdown of law and order.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
On land, birds, crabs, and small mammals prey on eggs and hatchlings.
—Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
Noun
Their prey is prairie dogs, and the ferrets hunt the rodents in often vast burrow colonies on the plains.
—TIME, 18 Apr. 2024
According to the Smithsonian, a female cicada killer finds her cicada prey in trees and captures them in flight, paralyzing them with a venomous sting.
—Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2024
Their supplemental diet also gives them a predatory advantage over wild prey, who don’t have a doting human refilling their bowls daily.
—Colleen Grablick, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
The organ looks like a gap in the scales covered by a membrane and allows the snakes to triangulate the location of possible prey, even in the dark, the museum says.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
Asparagus foragers look forward to the season, and hunt for their prey in ditches, ravines, next to streams and in various places near fresh water.
—Katie Workman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2024
Remain Vertical and Avoid Wearing Bright Swim Suits Remaining vertical will prevent you from looking like prey to the shark, according to the organization.
—Char Adams, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
Stand up straight to not look like prey, the park service stated, and keep eye contact with the cougar.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2024
The researchers also uncovered the remains of several small triangular points, which tantalizingly rank among the earliest examples of the use of archery and provide clues that the site’s inhabitants might have used bows and arrows to hunt fish and other larger prey.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024
Verb
Since then, two other women have come forward with claims that Rutledge also preyed on them, one of their attorneys said.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Tense, disturbing, riveting, Alex Garland’s dystopian film Civil War examines an existential threat preying on the American sub-conscious: What would happen if the political and social divisions cleaving the United States ultimately collapse the nation into the abyss?
—Eisa Nefertari Ulen, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
The head of the gang had been sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2016 for preying on motorists but was released to serve in Ukraine.
—Milana Mazaeva, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
There’s also an inherent class critique in Ripley’s ability to prey upon these privileged expatriates, the proverbial shark among minnows.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
How to Catch Crappie in Windy Conditions Wave action creates cloudy water perfect for ambushes, and crappie emerge from channels to prey on bait feeding on windblown plankton.
—Don Wirth, Field & Stream, 4 Apr. 2024
The disease was deemed fatal in owls who preyed on pigeons.
—USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024
Neither Israeli troops nor the Hamas police force is on the streets, leaving citizens prey to a dangerous breakdown of law and order.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
On land, birds, crabs, and small mammals prey on eggs and hatchlings.
—Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prey.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near prey
Cite this Entry
“Prey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prey. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
prey
2 of 2 verb
preyed; preying
1
a
: to seize and eat something as prey
b
: to do violent or dishonest acts
robbers who preyed on travelers
2
: to have a harmful effect
fears that prey on the mind
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