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.
Prey (?), n. [OF. preie, F. proie, L. praeda, probably for praeheda. See Prehensile, and cf. Depredate, Predatory.]
Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an
enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
And they brought
the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest.
Num.
xxxi. 12. 2. That which is or may be seized by
animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey.
Job iv.
ii. Already sees herself the monster's prey.
Dryden.
3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
Hog in sloth,
fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey.
Shak. Beast of
prey, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh
of other animals.
Hear it pronounced