to overexploit

Examples

• All

• Many fishermen worry that they might overexploit the fish population if they continue using aggressive practices.

• Villages in remote tropical areas can gather and overexploit wild species to supply specialized markets in wealthy, industrialized societies.

  Academic text (1992)

• As populations grow, thereby increasing demand for food and other essential crops, subsistence farmers in many countries are forced to overexploit their land just to survive (Crews and Cancellier 1991, 40).

  Academic text (1996)

• The problem is that governments have often (but certainly not always) been very poor natural resource stewards, frequently succumbing to the temptation to overexploit the resources or not to enforce restrictions on exploitation vigorously enough.

  Academic text (2001)

• Experts warn that excessive tourism could overexploit the fragile ecosystems in national parks.

• To protect the environment, it is essential that we do not overexploit our natural resources.

Synonyms

O

to overconsume

vsto overexploit

1 6.0

To eat, drink, or use more than you need in an unhealthy way

focuses specifically on exhausting natural resources beyond sustainable limits

O

to overgraze

vsto overexploit

• Specialized

1 5.6

To let animals eat so much grass that the land cannot recover

refers to using resources beyond sustainable limits rather than a single effect

O

to overhunt

vsto overexploit

1 7.3

To hunt animals so much that their numbers become very low

covers use of resources beyond sustainable limits in many ways

O

to overcultivate

vsto overexploit

8.6

To farm land too much so it becomes less productive

is the general act of using resources beyond sustainable limits

O

to overcrop

vsto overexploit

• Specialized

8.2

Grow crops on the same land too often so the soil loses its nutrients

applies broadly to using resources beyond sustainable limits

Antonyms

S

to sustain

222 3.9

To give a person or thing what it needs to live

C

to conserve

63 3.4

Protect something from harm or waste by using it carefully

How Extensive

to overexploit

1 7.4

to consume

172 3.2

to exploit

214 5.6

use

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology