Hypertext Webster Gateway: "decimate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Decimate \Dec"i*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Decimated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Decimating}.] [L. decimatus, p. p. of decimare to
decimate (in senses 1 & 2), fr. decimus tenth. See
{Decimal}.]
1. To take the tenth part of; to tithe. --Johnson.
2. To select by lot and punish with death every tenth man of;
as, to decimate a regiment as a punishment for mutiny.
--Macaulay.
3. To destroy a considerable part of; as, to decimate an army
in battle; to decimate a people by disease.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
decimate
v : kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire
population" [syn: {eliminate}, {annihilate}, {extinguish},
{eradicate}, {wipe out}, {carry off}]
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