動詞 decimate:

1. kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies
2. kill in large numbers
   同義詞：eliminate, annihilate, extinguish, eradicate, wipe out, carry off

1. Student numbers have been decimated by cuts in grants.
   助學(xué)金削減後，學(xué)生人數(shù)大大減少。
2. Disease has decimated the population.
   疾病使大部分人死亡。

dec.i.mate

v.tr.（及物動詞）
dec.i.mat.ed,dec.i.mat.ing,dec.i.mates
To destroy or kill a large part of (a group).
破壞：毀滅或殺死（一群）中的大部分
Usage Problem
【用法疑難】
To inflict great destruction or damage on:
毀損：使…遭受巨大破壞或損失：
例句：
The fawns decimated my sister`s rose bushes.
小鹿弄壞了我姐姐的玫瑰花叢

To reduce markedly in amount:
驟減：在數(shù)量上顯著減少：
例句：
a profligate heir who decimated his trust fund.
急劇減少信托基金的恣意揮霍的繼承人

To select by lot and kill one in every ten of.
以抽簽的方式選出并殺死其中的十分之一

來源：
Latin decim3re decim3t- [to punish every tenth person]
拉丁語 decim3re decim3t- [懲罰每十個人中的一個]
from decimus [tenth]
源自 decimus [第十]
from decem [ten] * see dekô
源自 decem [十] *參見 dekô

【引伸】
dec.ima.tion
n.（名詞）
Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions.Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group.Sixty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentenceThe Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge thatthe number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population.However, when the meaning is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing,as inThe supply of fresh produce was decimated by the accident at Chernobyl, the usage is accepted by only 2' percent of the Panel.
Decimate 最初指殺死每十人中的一個， 用于古羅馬軍隊(duì)對反叛軍團(tuán)的一種懲罰?，F(xiàn)在這一層意思通常引申為大批殺死。用法專題使用小組中''%的成員認(rèn)為在德國的猶太人在戰(zhàn)爭中被大批殺死 一句中該詞的這一引申義可接受， 盡管眾所周知，被殺的猶太人的數(shù)目遠(yuǎn)比最初人口的十分之一要多。可是，當(dāng)詞義外延至包括大量毀滅而不是戳殺，如在新鮮農(nóng)產(chǎn)品的供應(yīng)由于車諾比事故極大地受到了破壞 一句中， 用法專題使用小組中只有2'%的成員接受這一用法。