decimate

An army decimates its own soldiers when they're severely punished for mistakes or disobedience. This means that many of them are killed or removed from duty.

Imagine being part of a team and making a crucial mistake during a big project. Your boss might decide to decimate your part of the team as punishment, which would mean cutting down a significant number of people responsible for the mistake. Decimating can also happen in other situations like politics, where an official's power is severely reduced.

In sports, especially football and soccer, a decimation often refers to a penalty or severe disadvantage that affects many players on one side at once. For example, if several key players from a team are injured and can't play for the rest of the game, it would be said that their team has been decimated by injuries.

In other cases, someone might say that a whole group or organization is decimating another because they're being extremely cruel and cutting down many people. For instance, when companies fire a large number of employees due to restructuring, some might accuse them of decimating the workforce.

Decimate can also mean destroying something as in, "The disease has decimated the entire crop."