deplete
/dɪˈpliːt
/verb [with object]
1 (often as adjective depleted) Use up the supply or resources of: fish stocks are severely depleted Mansfield started the game with a heavily depleted side...
- Their stocks were severely depleted by whaling, and they remain low.
- The use of modified plants would take the pressure off severely depleted fish stocks.
- Irrigation, of course, not only depletes groundwater but reduces surface flow too, with dams and diversions that cause downstream desertification and the loss of productive wetlands and freshwater fish stocks.
Synonyms
exhaust, use up, consume, expend, spend, drain, empty, sap, milk, suck dry, evacuate;
reduce, decrease, diminish, lessen, lower, attenuate;
slim down, pare down, cut back
informal bleed, slash
1.1 [no object] Diminish in number or quantity: supplies are depleting fast...
- With the rich mangroves depleting fast, the number of migratory birds has decreased over the years.
- Do oil deposits get depleted too fast as oil countries try to maximize their oil earnings?
- Municipal representatives said bread supplies were depleting.
Derivatives
depleter
- In the 14 years since the Montreal Protocol banned most ozone depleters, a catastrophic global menace has begun to recede.
- The phaseout stems from evidence that methyl bromide is an ozone depleter, that is, a substance that destroys the protective ozone layer of Earth's atmosphere.
- Methyl bromide, which is still sometimes used as a termiticide, aerates more slowly and is an ozone depleter.
Origin
Early 19th century (earlier (mid. 17th century) as depletion): from Latin deplet- 'emptied out', from the verb deplere, from de- (expressing reversal) + plere 'fill' (from plenus 'full').