prey

(prā)

a. An animal hunted or caught by another for food: The leopard carried its prey into a tree.

b. The collection of animals typically hunted and eaten by a predator: the acoustic location of prey by barn owls.

a. An object or victim of attack: ships that became the prey of pirates.

b. One that is subjected to or afflicted with something: was prey to depression.

c. One that is deceived or taken advantage of by another: easy prey for swindlers.

3. Archaic

a. The act or practice of preying.

b. Plunder; booty.

intr.v. preyed, prey·ing, preys

1. To hunt, catch, or eat as prey: Owls prey on mice.

2. To victimize or make a profit at someone else's expense: swindlers who prey upon the weak.

3. To plunder or pillage: Vikings preying on coastal settlements.

4. To exert a baneful or injurious effect: Remorse preyed on his mind.

[Middle English preie, from Old French, from Latin praeda, booty, prey; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

prey′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

prey

(preɪ)

1. (Zoology) an animal hunted or captured by another for food

2. a person or thing that becomes the victim of a hostile person, influence, etc

3. (Animals) beast of prey an animal that preys on others for food

4. (Animals) bird of prey a bird that preys on others for food

5. an archaic word for booty¹

vb (intr; often foll by on or upon)

6. (Zoology) to hunt or seize food by killing other animals

7. to make a victim (of others), as by profiting at their expense

8. to exert a depressing or obsessive effect (on the mind, spirits, etc); weigh heavily (upon)

[C13: from Old French preie, from Latin praeda booty; see predatory]

ˈpreyer n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

prey

(preɪ)

n.

1. an animal hunted or seized for food, esp. by a carnivorous animal.

2. a person or thing that is the victim of an enemy, disease, swindler, injurious agency, etc.

3. the action or habit of preying: a beast of prey.

4. Archaic. booty or plunder.

v.i.

5. to seize and devour prey: Foxes prey on rabbits.

6. to make raids or attacks for booty or plunder: The Vikings preyed on coastal settlements.

7. to exert a harmful or destructive and often obsessive influence: The problem preyed upon his mind.

8. to victimize another or others: loan sharks who prey upon the poor.

(usu. fol. by on or upon)

[1200–50; Middle English preye < Old French < Latin praeda booty, prey]

prey′er, n.

prey

Past participle: preyed
Gerund: preying

Imperative
prey
prey

Present
I prey
you prey
he/she/it preys
we prey
you prey
they prey

Preterite
I preyed
you preyed
he/she/it preyed
we preyed
you preyed
they preyed

Present Continuous
I am preying
you are preying
he/she/it is preying
we are preying
you are preying
they are preying

Present Perfect
I have preyed
you have preyed
he/she/it has preyed
we have preyed
you have preyed
they have preyed

Past Continuous
I was preying
you were preying
he/she/it was preying
we were preying
you were preying
they were preying

Past Perfect
I had preyed
you had preyed
he/she/it had preyed
we had preyed
you had preyed
they had preyed

Future
I will prey
you will prey
he/she/it will prey
we will prey
you will prey
they will prey

Future Perfect
I will have preyed
you will have preyed
he/she/it will have preyed
we will have preyed
you will have preyed
they will have preyed

Future Continuous
I will be preying
you will be preying
he/she/it will be preying
we will be preying
you will be preying
they will be preying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been preying
you have been preying
he/she/it has been preying
we have been preying
you have been preying
they have been preying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been preying
you will have been preying
he/she/it will have been preying
we will have been preying
you will have been preying
they will have been preying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been preying
you had been preying
he/she/it had been preying
we had been preying
you had been preying
they had been preying

Conditional
I would prey
you would prey
he/she/it would prey
we would prey
you would prey
they would prey

Past Conditional
I would have preyed
you would have preyed
he/she/it would have preyed
we would have preyed
you would have preyed
they would have preyed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	prey - 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" fair game, quarry, target victim - an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
	2.	prey - animal hunted or caught for food quarry animal, animate being, beast, creature, fauna, brute - a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
Verb	1.	prey - profit from in an exploitatory manner; "He feeds on her insecurity" feed exploit, work - use or manipulate to one's advantage; "He exploit the new taxation system"; "She knows how to work the system"; "he works his parents for sympathy"
	2.	prey - prey on or hunt for; "These mammals predate certain eggs" raven, predate forage - wander and feed; "The animals forage in the woods"

prey

noun

1. quarry, game, kill These animals were the prey of hyenas.

2. victim, target, mark, mug (Brit. slang), dupe, fall guy (informal) Old people are easy prey for con men.

prey on something or someone

1. hunt, live off, eat, seize, devour, feed upon The larvae prey on small aphids.

2. victimize, bully, intimidate, exploit, take advantage of, bleed (informal), blackmail, terrorize unscrupulous men who preyed on young runaways

3. worry, trouble, burden, distress, haunt, hang over, oppress, weigh down, weigh heavily This was the question that preyed on his mind.

Birds of prey

accipiter, bald eagle, barn owl, bateleur eagle, boobook, brown owl, buzzard, caracara, condor, Cooper's hawk, duck hawk, eagle, eagle-hawk or wedge-tailed eagle, falcon, falconet, golden eagle, goshawk, gyrfalcon or gerfalcon, harrier, hawk, hawk owl, hobby, honey buzzard, hoot owl, horned owl, kestrel, kite, lammergeier, lammergeyer, bearded vulture, or (archaic) ossifrage, lanner, little owl, long-eared owl, merlin, Montagu's harrier, mopoke or (N.Z.) ruru, osprey, fish eagle, or (archaic) ossifrage, owl, peregrine falcon, red kite or (archaic) gled(e), rough-legged buzzard, saker, screech owl, sea eagle, erne, or ern, secretary bird, snowy owl, sparrowhawk, tawny owl, turkey buzzard or vulture, vulture

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

prey

noun

One that is made to suffer injury, loss, or death:

casualty, victim.

Translations

فَرِيسَةفَريسَه

kořist

bytte

Beute

λεία

presa botín

saalissaaliseläin

proie

plijen

bráî

preda predare rapina rodere l'animo uccelli rapaci

餌食

먹이

laupījumsmedījumsupuris

plenprežati

byte

เหยื่อ

mồi

猎物被捕食的动物

prey

[preɪ]

A. N (lit, fig) → presa f, víctima f
beast of prey → animal m de rapiña
bird of prey → ave f de rapiña
to be (a) prey to → ser víctima de
she is prey to irrational fears (fig) → es presa de temores irracionales
he fell (a) prey to the disease → fue víctima de la enfermedad

B. VI to prey on [+ animals] (= attack) → cazar; (= feed on) → alimentarse de; [+ person] → vivir a costa de
rabbits are preyed on by foxes → los conejos son presa de los zorros
to prey on sb's mind → traer preocupado or obsesionar a algn
doubts preyed on him → le obsesionaban las dudas
the tragedy so preyed on his mind that → la tragedia le obsesionó de tal modo que ...

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

prey

[ˈpreɪ]

(= animal) → proie f
a bird of prey → un oiseau de proie

(= person) → proie f
to fall prey to sth → devenir la proie de qch
to be prey to sth [+ illness, feeling] → être en proie à qch
He was prey to a growing despair → Il était en proie à un désespoir grandissant.

prey on

vt fus

[+ animal] → s'attaquer à
the effect was to starve many animals and those that preyed on them → cela a eu pour effet d'affamer de nombreux animaux ainsi que leurs prédateurs

[+ person] → s'attaquer à
to prey on sb's mind → ronger qn
It was preying on his mind → Ça le rongeait.

prey

n (lit, fig) → Beute f; (= animal also) → Beutetier nt; beast of prey → Raubtier nt; bird of prey → Raubvogel m; to be/fall prey to somebody/something (lit) → eine Beute von jdm/etw werden; (fig) → ein Opfer von jdm/etw werden; she was (a) prey to anxiety → sie war leicht in Angst zu versetzen; she was (a) prey to illness → sie wurde leicht krank

vi to prey (up)on (animals) → Beute machen auf (+acc); (pirates, thieves) → (aus)plündern; (swindler etc) → als Opfer aussuchen; (doubts) → nagen an (+dat); (anxiety) → quälen; it preyed (up)on his mind → es ließ ihn nicht los, der Gedanke daran quälte ihn

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

prey

[preɪ] n (also) (fig) → preda
to be prey to (fig) → essere in preda a

prey on vi + prep (subj, animals) → predare, far preda di; (person) → depredare
to prey on sb's mind → ossessionare qn
it was preying on his mind → gli rodeva la mente

prey

(prei) – plural prey – noun

a bird or animal, birds or animals, that is/are hunted by other birds or animals for food. The lion tore at its prey.

beast/bird of prey

an animal, eg the lion, or a bird, eg the eagle, that kills and eats others.

prey on/upon

to attack as prey. Hawks prey upon smaller birds.

prey is a noun or a verb: a bird of prey (not pray); to prey on (not pray on) smaller creatures.

prey

→ فَرِيسَة kořist bytte Beute λεία presa saaliseläin proie plijen preda 餌食 먹이 prooi bytte zdobycz presa добыча byte เหยื่อ av mồi 猎物

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Verily, unto such a spirit it is preying, and the work of a beast of prey.

View in context

We behold the face of nature bright with gladness, we often see superabundance of food; we do not see, or we forget, that the birds which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects or seeds, and are thus constantly destroying life; or we forget how largely these songsters, or their eggs, or their nestlings, are destroyed by birds and beasts of prey; we do not always bear in mind, that though food may be now superabundant, it is not so at all seasons of each recurring year.

View in context

He had no intention to remain there inactive--a prey to hunger and thirst.

View in context

The sight of this gang of ruffians banded together to prey upon the clergy had given rise to an idea in the boy's mind, which had been revolving in a nebulous way within the innermost recesses of his subconsciousness since his vanquishing of the three knights had brought him, so easily, such riches in the form of horses, arms, armor and gold.

View in context

The wind, now, was blowing gently between him and his intended prey. He had come a long way in search of man, for even in his youth he had tasted human flesh and while it was poor stuff by comparison with eland and zebra it was less difficult to kill.

View in context

It is monstrous that for no offence but the wish to produce something beautiful, and the mistake of his powers in that direction, a writer should become the prey of some ferocious wit, and that his tormentor should achieve credit by his lightness and ease in rending his prey; it is shocking to think how alluring and depraving the fact is to the young reader emulous of such credit, and eager to achieve it.

View in context

Crouching beside the brook, I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales rose to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water, and then, like the beast of prey that man really is, I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger while he yet wriggled to escape.

View in context

Several had already fallen prey to old Sabor, and because the jungle was so infested with these fierce and bloodthirsty cats, and with lions and leopards, the ebony warriors hesitated to trust themselves far from the safety of their palisades.

View in context

Then silence as the huge, repulsive shapes covered the bodies of their victims and scores of sucking mouths fastened themselves to the flesh of their prey.

View in context

As Taglat struggled with the bonds which secured the ankles and wrists of his captive, the great lion that eyed the two from behind a nearby clump of bushes wormed closer to his intended prey.

View in context

He had no intention of being robbed of his prey. Blustering and storming, he ordered the people back to their huts, at the same time directing two of his warriors to confine me in a dugout in one of the trenches close to his own shelter.

View in context

He welcomed anything that would occupy his time and his mind beyond the filling of his belly and the gloomy thoughts to which he fell prey the moment that he became idle.

View in context