deplete

Verb

deplete (third-person singular simple present depletes, present participle depleting, simple past and past participle depleted)

1. (transitive) To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something)
   • The winter storm quickly depleted the salt supply of the county.
   • Their numbers have been very heavily depleted in the last few years, and soon a most familiar part of the southern railway scene will have vanished: […].1954 May, John W. Grant, “A Railway Requiem”, in Railway Magazine, page 352
2. (transitive) To expend or separate a reactant.
3. (transitive) To reduce the amount of a substance with a medication or medical procedure or due to a illness.
   • Certain medications can deplete vitamin D.
4. (transitive) To use up, exhaust, or consume (power or resources).
   • Its reserves have been invaded and depleted.2007, John Zerzan, Silence
   • Constant vigilance for social threats and the negative emotions it produces (e.g., anxiety) deplete self-regulatory resources.2022 October 25, L. J. Shrum, Elena Fumagalli, Tina M. Lowrey, “Coping with loneliness through consumption”, in Journal of Consumer Psychology, volume 33, number 2, →DOI, pages 441–465
5. (rare, transitive) To decrease the amount of an isotope (in a mixture of isotopes).

   Antonyms:

   enrich

6. (transitive) To empty or purge (something of a substance).
   • The conservation project depleted the lake of algae.
   • This drug can deplete the body of magnesium.
   1. (transitive) To clear a compound or solution (of a reactant).
      • Cycling also produces layered scales, as repeated spallation further depletes the compound of Al and allows Cr₂O₃ formation.2017 February, James L. Smialek, “Cr₂AlC Issues: Scale Adhesion”, in Unusual oxidative limitations for Al-MAX phases (NASA technical memorandum; 2017-219444), Cleveland, Ohio: NASA, →OCLC, page 15
   2. (transitive) To clear a mixture of isotopes (of an isotope or isotopes).
      • The by-product of this process, which depletes uranium of its most radioactive isotopes, is called depleted uranium (DU).1999, Naomi H. Harley [et al.], A Review of the Scientific Literature As It Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses, volume 7: Depleted Uranium, Santa Monica, CA: RAND, →ISBN, →OCLC, page xiii
7. (intransitive) To diminish in quantity or strength; to be consumed.
   • I noticed a couple of days ago how quickly the battery depletes.
   • Depending on what you print, one color usually depletes faster than the others.
   1. (intransitive) To be expended or separated (of a substance).
      • As can be seen in Fig. 1.49, FS 21 rapidly depletes of Li⁺ near the surface during the exposure to a NaNO₃ melt and simultaneously enriches in Na⁺.2008 June 24, Dagmar Hülsenberg, Alf Harnisch, Alexander Bismarck, “1. Silicate Glasses: A Class of Amorphous Materials”, in Microstructuring of Glasses, Berlin: Springer Science+Business Media...
   2. (intransitive) To undergo loss of an isotope.
      • Since uranium depletes in this process, it is called fissile fuel, nuclear fuel or simply fuel.2025 February 10, Farid Gamgami, “11. Nuclear Propulsion Technology and Systems”, in Space Propulsion and Spaceship Design: A System Perspective, Berlin: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN...