WORD of the day

decimate/DES-eh-mate/; verb

: To pick by lot and kill every tenth man
: To destroy a large portion of something

Example Sentence: The storm decimated the CPE, allowing for a lot of time before any tickets associated with the site could be closed.

Did you know?

Debate over the proper usage of this word goes on and on. Some scholars insist that its meaning be restricted to the first definition seen above—to reduce by one tenth. Others are more open to how the use of a word changes over the years. Below I have provided some ways NOT to use this word.

Indivisibles. Some have set out to decimate the soul of this great country.
To imply complete destruction. The population was totally decimated.

The killing of an individual. Joe protected his brother from the thugs intent on physically decimating him.

The destruction of a named fraction. The May frost decimated 80% of the fruit.