Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Preying"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
More pity that the eagle should be mewed, While kites
and buzzards prey at liberty. --Shak.
{To prey on} or {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.
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