Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DEP'RE-DATE, v.t. [L. deprædor; de and prædor, to plunder, præda, prey.]

1. To plunder, to rob; to pillage; to take the property of an enemy or of a foreign country by force; as, the army depredated the enemy's country. That kind of war which depredates and distresses individuals. – Marshall.
2. To prey upon; to waste; to spoil. – Bacon.
3. To devour; to destroy by eating; as, wild animals depredate the corn.