Dictionary

predatorious en · ADJ

Etymology

From Latin praedatorius, equivalent to predatory + -ous.

Meanings

1. predatory
   • ...the hills of the robbers, predatorious oppreſſors of true Religion, pillagers and ſpoilers of the Church of Chriſt, of which too many ſad inſtances have been in ancient and later daies both at home and abroad. 1659, John Gauden, Ἰερα Δακρυα. Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Suspiria. The tears, sighs, complaints, and prayers of the Church of England, London: R. Royston, page 495:
   • Larvae that live a predatorious way of life, building neither living spaces nor nets, have smaller salivary glands, and their tiny nuclei are of exceptional significance. 1968 July 5, Pesticides Documentation Bulletin, volume 4, number 1, page 16:

Forms