Dictionary

deplete en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /dəˈplit/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /dɪˈplit/ (General-American)
• /dɪˈpliːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /diˈplit/ (General-American)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēplētus (“empty”), from depleō. First attested in 1716; originally a medical term.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something)
   • [page 1-54:] Here [in Gabon ...], concentrations of slightly enriched uranium were deposited as sediments in a stream bed and formed seven separate water moderated reactors which operated for thousands of years, depleting the uranium and producing fission products, plutonium and other actinides. 1982, Are Current Emergency Planning Requirements Justified?: Workshop Proceedings:
   • The winter storm quickly depleted the salt supply of the county.
   • Their numbers have been very heavily depleted in the last few years, and soon a most familiar part of the southern railway scene will have vanished: […]. 1954 May, John W. Grant, “A Railway Requiem”, in Railway Magazine, page 352:
   • ... depleting the minerals and fuels of the more developed states, leading to a scarcity of these crucial resources. 1975, William Roscoe Kintner, Harvey Sicherman, Technology and International Politics: The Crisis of Wishing:
2. (transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something): ▸ To expend or separate a reactant.
3. (transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something): ▸ To reduce the amount of a substance with a medication or medical procedure or due to a illness.
   • Certain medications can deplete vitamin D.
4. (transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something): ▸ To use up, exhaust, or consume (power or resources).
   • Its reserves have been invaded and depleted. 2007, John Zerzan, Silence:
   • Constant vigilance for social threats and the negative emotions it produces (e.g., anxiety) deplete self-regulatory resources. 2022 October 25, L. J. Shrum, Elena Fumagalli, Tina M. Lowrey, “Coping with loneliness through consumption”, in Journal of Consumer Psychology, volume 33, number 2, →DOI, pages 441–465:
5. (rare, transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something): ▸ To decrease the amount of an isotope (in a mixture of isotopes).
6. (transitive) To empty or purge (something of a substance).
   • This drug can deplete the body of magnesium.
   • However, every Practitioner ought to be appriz'd of a ſtanding Truth in all Coughs of this Kind, that ſome proper Evacuations ought to precede, in order to revulſe the Motion from the Lungs to ſome distant Goal, as well as to deplete the Veſſels of ſuch a troubleſome Lodger. 1716, [John Radcliffe], “Electuarium Phthiſicum”, in Pharmacopœia Radcliffeana: or, Dr. Radcliff's Preſcriptions, second corrected edition, London: Charles Rivington, page 22:
   • The conservation project depleted the lake of algae.
   • ... deplete the body of minerals, causing osteoporosis. 2005, Teresa Cutter, The 80/20 Diet: 12 Weeks to a Better Body, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 21:
7. (transitive) To empty or purge (something of a substance). ▸ To clear a compound or solution (of a reactant).
   • Cycling also produces layered scales, as repeated spallation further depletes the compound of Al and allows Cr₂O₃ formation. 2017 February 14, James L. Smialek, “Cr₂AlC Issues: Scale Adhesion”, in Unusual oxidative limitations for Al-MAX phases (NASA technical memorandum; 2017-219444), Cleveland, Ohio: NASA, →OCLC, page 15:
8. (transitive) To empty or purge (something of a substance). ▸ To clear a mixture of isotopes (of an isotope or isotopes).
   • The by-product of this process, which depletes uranium of its most radioactive isotopes, is called depleted uranium (DU). 1999, Naomi H. Harley [et al.], A Review of the Scientific Literature As It Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses, volume 7: Depleted Uranium, Santa Monica, CA: RAND, →ISBN, →OCLC, page xiii:
9. (intransitive) To diminish in quantity or strength; to be consumed.
   • Depending on what you print, one color usually depletes faster than the others.
   • I noticed a couple of days ago how quickly the battery depletes.
   • He said that if I could not urinate within the next few hours I would be charged with refusing to comply with an order and be punished. In spite of my inability to eat much due to my depleted physical condition, I drank as much as I could and still was unable to urinate within the prescribed time. 1989 December 17, Edward Inman, “Disobeying An Order To Piss Lands Transsexual In Isolation”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, page 5:
10. (intransitive) To diminish in quantity or strength; to be consumed. ▸ To be expended or separated (of a substance).
    • As can be seen in Fig. 1.49, FS 21 rapidly depletes of Li⁺ near the surface during the exposure to a NaNO₃ melt and simultaneously enriches in Na⁺. 2008 June 24, Dagmar Hülsenberg, Alf Harnisch, Alexander Bismarck, “1. Silicate Glasses: A Class of Amorphous Materials”, in Microstructuring of Glasses, Berlin: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 54:
11. (intransitive) To diminish in quantity or strength; to be consumed. ▸ To undergo loss of an isotope.
    • Since uranium depletes in this process, it is called fissile fuel, nuclear fuel or simply fuel. 2025 February 10, Farid Gamgami, “11. Nuclear Propulsion Technology and Systems”, in Space Propulsion and Spaceship Design: A System Perspective, Berlin: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 54:

Forms

Antonyms

enrich · enrich · replenish

Deriveds

depletome · hemodepleting · immunodeplete · lymphodeplete · depletable · nondepleting · depleter · depletive · depletant · immunodepleting · ribodeplete · depletory

Relateds

complete · depletion · replete

Translations (41)

es depletear (reduce the amount of or remove) · pt esgotar (reduce the amount of or remove) · id mengosongkan (reduce the amount of or remove) · nl afbreken (reduce the amount of or remove) · es agotar (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc amenir (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc mermar (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc agotar (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc amermar (reduce the amount of or remove) · el εκκενώνω (reduce the amount of or remove) · bg изпразвам (reduce the amount of or remove) · pt exaurir (reduce the amount of or remove) · de leeren (reduce the amount of or remove) · pt esvaziar (reduce the amount of or remove) · mg manala (reduce the amount of or remove) · fi kulua (reduce the amount of or remove) · la exhauriō (reduce the amount of or remove) · ru производи́ть кровопуска́ние (reduce the amount of or remove) · nl leegmaken (reduce the amount of or remove) · fi tyhjetä (reduce the amount of or remove) · ia depler (reduce the amount of or remove) · fi kuluttaa (reduce the amount of or remove) · de aufbrauchen (reduce the amount of or remove) · cmn 耗竭 (reduce the amount of or remove) · ru очища́ть (reduce the amount of or remove) · nl opruimen (reduce the amount of or remove) · de räumen (reduce the amount of or remove) · fi tyhjentää (reduce the amount of or remove) · cmn 放血 (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc demesir (reduce the amount of or remove) · es depletar (reduce the amount of or remove) · bg изчерпвам (reduce the amount of or remove) · nan-hbl 弄空 (reduce the amount of or remove) · fr vider (reduce the amount of or remove) · hu kimerít (reduce the amount of or remove) · id menguras (reduce the amount of or remove) · es mermar (reduce the amount of or remove) · el αδειάζω (reduce the amount of or remove) · hu kiürít (reduce the amount of or remove) · oc voidar (reduce the amount of or remove) · es deplecionar (reduce the amount of or remove)