predated; predating; predates
: to prey on (something or someone)
Animals predate other animals in nature, but that is hardly commensurate with a massive worldwide farming industry that breeds species purely for our purpose.—
Jenny Diski
Jenny DiskiAre high-profile men that sexually predate women finally starting to lose immunity?—Alex McKinnon
Alex McKinnonAll cats may predate but those living indoors have little opportunity to do so.—Kevin Stafford
Kevin StaffordThere are many species that predate on pigeons and doves.—Revati
RevatiExamples of predate in a Sentence
Verb (1)
modes of transportation that predate the car
the native people who predated European settlers in America
Recent Examples on the Web
Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2025
Known as The Lost Colony, this site predated Jamestown, Virginia—the first permanent English settlement in North America—by about 20 years.
—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2025
And this software in question is based on a technology called Apple Data Detectors that not only predates any current notion of AI but predates Google itself: Apple’s Advanced Technology Group developed it in the late 1990s.
—Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 11 Mar. 2025
But the truth is that both countries’ efforts to reduce their mutual trade dependence long predated the 2020 pandemic and substantially undergirded the Phase One deal’s failure.
—Brendan Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predate
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Verb
The shift predated the filing of a breach of contract lawsuit against the studio over its decision to release 2021’s The Matrix: Resurrections simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters during AT&T’s Project Popcorn plan.
—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2025
Known as The Lost Colony, this site predated Jamestown, Virginia—the first permanent English settlement in North America—by about 20 years.
—Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2025
And this software in question is based on a technology called Apple Data Detectors that not only predates any current notion of AI but predates Google itself: Apple’s Advanced Technology Group developed it in the late 1990s.
—Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 11 Mar. 2025
But the truth is that both countries’ efforts to reduce their mutual trade dependence long predated the 2020 pandemic and substantially undergirded the Phase One deal’s failure.
—Brendan Kelly, Foreign Affairs, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predate
Cite this Entry
“Predate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predate. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
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predate
verb
pre·date
(ˈ)prē-ˈdāt 
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