prey
60
5.6
- noun
- /prɛɪ/
:
presa
- Their poverty and sense of marginalization have made them easy prey for jihadist recruiters.
- fall prey to
- easy prey
You know, they fell prey to the angry mob.
- You know, they fell prey to the angry mob.
- It's like falling prey to a very, very clever mind reader.
- So well, it's not just also too, I think, falling prey to temptation.
- And then these people over here start to see us as easy prey, complicating it even more.
- Financially strapped students facing huge tuition bills were easy prey.
- So then I mean she's just total prime to fall prey to the maggot cult.
- And yet people, many people, most people fall prey to it.
- All right, So even if you don't take the hard road and you fall prey, what do you do, Brian?
- So there is a really unfortunate effect that everyone appears to fall prey to.
- So well, wild man's looking at him like, pray this guy's my prey, right?
- In comes ISIS takes over that part of of northern Iraq and sees them as as a prey.
- They tried it if you'd like, because being a foreigner, you you're a bit of they consider you prey, don't they?
- So how do we do that and not fall prey to the pitfalls of, you know, humanity's bassist nature?
Examples
-
Young people, especially, seem to have fallen prey to the new, depressed spirit.
Academic text (1996) -
You know, they fell prey to the angry mob.
-
I was right, I was the prey.
-
Officials feed on the state, and the powerful prey on the weak.
Academic text (2008) -
And then these people over here start to see us as easy prey, complicating it even more.
-
These are groups that are preyed upon by a system of exploitation.
-
The United States has fallen prey to false comfort in the past.
Academic text (2011) -
Speaker, one of my constituents has lost thousands of pounds from his British Steel pension as he was preyed upon by a rogue financial advisor.
-
Victims of scams are often seen as prey by con artists who exploit their trust.
-
In a competitive workplace, new employees can sometimes become prey to office politics.
Synonyms
∞
1.5
A person who suffers harm, injury, loss because of an accident, crime or trick
649
3.5
A person chosen for attack or criticism
39
5.2
An easy target for people to criticize or attack
34
3.5
A person or thing people attack and take advantage of because it is weak
11
7.7
An animal or person that others chase to catch
A person who others use or treat badly in a competitive place
A person who is being chased and may be caught or hurt
Compounds
How Vulnerable
Surface Forms
Etymology
Prey comes from the old Latin word praeda, which meant 'booty' or 'something taken'. So when we call a person prey, we mean they are someone taken advantage of or used by others, like the target of a scam or attack.