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to overhunt

to overhunt

1 7.3
To hunt animals so much that their numbers become very low
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈhʌnt/
translation icon : sobreexplotar
  • As Euro-American market forces penetrated their economy, the Choctaws were driven to overhunt deer populations to extinction and, in the process, destroyed their resources, environment, and economy.

Examples

  • A set of traditional rules and beliefs prevented overhunting, as related by an elderly Kamba whose father had been a prominent elephant hunter: "Prior to the day of hunting, no hunter was allowed to sleep with his wife, as this would bring bad luck."

    Academic text (2018)
  • Kamba and Waata hunters limited the population of elephants to use them for food and many other purposes, but had no reason to begin overhunting them until the ivory trade reached Tsavo in late precolonial times.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The decisions by hunters to overhunt the buffalo had costs.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Why did Native Americans overhunt the buffalo?

    Academic text (1996)
  • "We overhunted him, honey.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Overhunting.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Many Choctaws were glad to trade little-used and overhunted land in exchange for presents, now in the form of annuities.

    Academic text (1999)
  • You're overhunting, Scar.

  • By the end of the eighteenth century, the deer population of the southeast had been drastically thinned by overhunting.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Hunters often overhunt certain species, leading to a significant decline in their populations.

Synonyms

to overharvest
vsto overhunt
1 6.9

To take too many plants or animals so their numbers fall and cannot recover

focuses specifically on animals, reducing their numbers to dangerous levels
to overexploit
vsto overhunt
1 7.4

Use things from nature like fish or trees so much that they disappear

is specific to animals, causing dangerous population decline rather than general use

How Destructive

to wipe out
189 4.2
to overhunt
1 7.3
to decimate
58 7.5

Surface Forms

overhunt infinitive
overhunted past
overhunted past participle
overhunting present participle
overhunts third person singular

Morphology

overhunt = hunt (transparent) = over + hunt

The prefix 'over-' clearly indicates an excessive degree of the action 'hunt'.

Etymology

The word overhunt combines over- meaning 'too much' and hunt meaning 'to chase animals'. Think of it like overcook or overfish—hunting so much that animal numbers become very low. So, to overhunt is to hunt animals so much that they become threatened.