prey on

Verb

prey on (third-person singular simple present preys on, present participle preying on, simple past and past participle preyed on)

1. (transitive) To eat (as prey).
   • Owls prey on small mammals, such as mice.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To exploit or victimize.
   • Bradford had preyed on Villa's inability to defend set pieces, corners in particular, in their first-leg win and took advantage of the weakness again as Hanson equalised to restore their two-goal aggregate lead.2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBC
   • The food industry and its allies in the agricultural and chemical industries prey on the vulnerable by pumping out barely regulated products at low cost and then marketing them with insidious advertising campaigns.2018, Kristin Lawless, Formerly known as food, →ISBN, page 202
3. (figuratively, transitive) To weigh heavily upon (a person's mind).
   • The past—to me, the dreadful past !—is one eternal present ; and the Promethean vulture of remorse preys on me now, and for ever.1852, George Payne Rainsford James, “Remorse”, in A Book of the Passions, Henry G. Bohn, page 2
   • He had met with a great trouble, and also he had allowed this story to prey on his imagination, and he was a very imaginative man.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC