Definition: decimate

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

decimate
     v : kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire
         population" [syn: eliminate, annihilate, extinguish,
          eradicate, wipe out, carry off]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

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.