Dreye權威釋義|decimate

vt.

成批殺死；大量毀滅；重挫
I hate boxing, because my opponent always found a way to decimate me.
我討厭拳擊，因為我的對手老是有辦法重挫我。

衍生

n. [U]

decimation

辨析

同義參見:

lessen butcher

以上來源於：《英漢大辭典》

/ˈdɛsɪmeɪt/

v.

kill or destroy a large proportion of.
▸drastically reduce the strength of.
(in ancient Rome) kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers) as a punishment for the mutiny of the whole group.

Derivative

decimation n.
decimator n.

Usage

The earliest sense of decimate, ‘kill one in every ten of’, has been more or less totally superseded by the more general sense ‘kill or destroy (a large proportion of)’. Some traditionalists argue that this later sense is incorrect, but it is clear that this is now part of standard English.

Etymology

ME: from L. decimat-, decimare ‘take as a tenth’, from decimus ‘tenth’.

以上來源於：《簡明牛津英語詞典》