King James Bible Dictionary

PREY, noun [Latin proeda.]

1. Spoil; booty; plunder; goods taken by force from an enemy in war.

And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses and Eleazar the priest. Numbers 31:11.

In this passage, the captives are distinguished from prey But sometimes persons are included.

They [Judah] shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies. 2 Kings 21:14.

2. That which is seized or may be seized by violence to be devoured; ravine. The eagle and the hawk dart upon their prey

She sees herself the monster's prey

The old lion perisheth for lack of prey Job 4:11.

3. Ravage; depredation.

Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, lion in prey

Animal or beast of prey is a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals. The word is applied to the larger animals, as lions, tigers, hawks, vultures, etc. rather than to insects; yet an insect feeding on other insects may be called an animal of prey

PREY, verb intransitive To prey on or upon, is to rob; to plunder; to pillage.

1. To feed by violence, or to seize and devour. The wolf preys on sheep; the hawk preys on chickens.

2. To corrode; to waste gradually; to cause to pine away. Grief preys on the body and spirits; envy and jealousy prey on the health.

Language is too faint to show

His rage of love; it preys upon his life;

He pines, he sickens, he despairs, he dies.

PREYER, noun He or that which preys; a plunderer; a waster; a devourer.

PREYING, participle present tense Plundering; corroding; wasting gradually.