predation
noun/prɪˈdeɪʃn/
/prɪˈdeɪʃn/
[uncountable] (specialist)- the act of an animal killing and eating other animals
- Goldfish are particularly prone to predation by cats and birds such as herons.
Word Originlate 15th cent. (in the Latin sense): from Latin praedatio(n-) ‘taking of booty’, from the verb praedari ‘seize as plunder’, from praeda ‘booty’. The current main sense dates from the 1930s.
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predation