verb🔗ShareTo kill one-tenth of a group, (specifically) as a military punishment in the Roman army selected by lot, usually carried out by the surviving soldiers."The Roman legion's mutiny was brutally suppressed; as punishment, they were decimated, with every tenth man chosen by lot and executed by his comrades. "militaryhistorywargroupactionnumberChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo destroy or remove one-tenth of anything."The flu decimated the office staff, leaving only 90% of the employees able to work. "militarydisasterwarhistoryChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo devastate: to reduce or destroy significantly but not completely."The heavy rain decimated the tomato crop; most of the plants were ruined, but some still produced a few tomatoes. "disastermilitarywarhistoryenvironmentChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo exact a tithe or other 10% tax"The school district decimated its budget by requiring a 10% cut from all departments. "economyfinancebusinessgovernmentChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo tithe: to pay a 10% tax."The villagers decimated their harvest, giving one-tenth to the temple. "numbereconomybusinessfinanceChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo decimalize: to divide into tenths, hundredths etc."The teacher decimated the long division problem into smaller, more manageable steps. "mathChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo reduce to one-tenth: to destroy or remove nine-tenths of anything."The invasive insect population decimated the farmer's corn crop, leaving only a small fraction of plants standing. "militarydisasterwarhistorynumberamountChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
verb🔗ShareTo replace a high-resolution model with another of lower but acceptable quality."To improve website loading speed on mobile devices, the developers decimated the high-resolution product images, using smaller, compressed versions instead. "technologycomputingtechnicalChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading