decimation

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A decimation is when one tenth of something is removed or destroyed.

When people talk about decimation, they often mean that many people are being killed or hurt. For example, if an army loses a whole tenth of its soldiers in battle, that's a decimation. It can also refer to the removal of many books from a library because they're not useful anymore. In general, when we say something has been decimated, we mean it's lost most of its value or importance.

How common is "decimation"?

Word decimation is considered rare in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

noun

(Ancient Rome, strictly) The killing or punishment of every tenth person, usually by lot.
(generally) The killing or destruction of any large portion of a population.
A tithe or the act of tithing.
(mathematics) The creation of a new sequence comprising only every nth element of a source sequence.

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Real examples of "decimation" in context

Gordon Ramsay Savagely Critiques Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

Interview

Um, shark thing, deplorable. The decimation across the ocean is extraordinary. We need that

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decimation

How common is "decimation"?

noun

Real examples of "decimation" in context

Gordon Ramsay Savagely Critiques Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

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