depredator

de·pre·da·tor
D2E1P3R1E1D2A1T1O1R1

noun

One who depredates, or commits depredation.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

noundepredator (plural depredators)

plural depredators

  1. One who depredates, or commits depredation.

    The sight of her old neighbourly depredator shivering at the door in tatters, the very oddity of his appeal, touched a soft spot in the spinster's heart.

    1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “The ‘Norah Creina’”, in The Wrecker, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, pages 191–192
    2 more examples

    An open heath, a close plantation, were alike subjects of his apprehension; and the whistle of a shepherd lad was instantly converted into the signal of a depredator.

    1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 61

    Orders were now given to fire on all depredators, royal or plebeian; and after a few shots had been discharged without producing any fatal effects, the thieves hid themselves amongst the rocks, and were merely seen peeping through the crevices.

    1836, Robert Huish, Lander’s Travels

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Translations

French déprédateur
  • déprédateurTranslations
German Plünderer, Plünderin
  • PlündererTranslations
  • PlünderinTranslations
Tamil கள்ளன், கள்ளி
  • கள்ளன் (kaḷḷaṉ)Translations
  • கள்ளி (kaḷḷi)Translations
Turkish çapulcu
  • çapulcuTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

depredator. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depredator

MLA

“depredator.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depredator. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “depredator,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depredator.

Source: depredator on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.