Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use prey in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Prey means that which is or may be seized by animals to be devoured. Example: “The deer became prey to the lion.”

Examples of prey by meaning

nounThat which is or may be seized by animals to be devoured.

  • The deer became prey to the lion.

nounA person or thing given up as a victim.

  • Being so inflexible, the railway was easy prey to road competition, and the arrival of unregulated lorry transport from farm fields to town centres quickly captured all locally generated business.2020 November 18, Howard Johnston, “The missing 'Lincs' and the sole survivor”, in Rail, page 58

nounA living thing, usually an animal, that is eaten by another living thing.

  • The rabbit was eaten by the coyote, so the rabbit is the coyote's prey.
  • Stranded without any weapons, we made very easy prey.
  • Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7

nounThe victim of a disease.

  • He became the prey of dengue.

More sentences with prey

  • Birds fly their prey to their nest to feed it to their young.From the entry fly
  • The lone eagle swooped down into the lake, snatching its prey, a small fish.From the entry swoop
  • An anteater is an insectivore with a long sticky tongue to catch its prey.From the entry insectivore
  • Many snakes can unhinge their jaw joints to swallow large prey.From the entry unhinge
  • The lioness has to creep up behind her prey so as not to be noticed.From the entry creep up
  • Many children at our school have fallen prey to the 'flu bug.From the entry fall prey
  • Inexperienced teachers sometimes fall prey to fears that they do not know enough.From the entry fall prey
  • Having lost our weapons, we made very easy prey for the wildcats.From the entry easy prey
  • The hunters trailed their prey deep into the woods.From the entry trail
  • A snake wraps itself around its prey.From the entry wrap
  • The squid wrapped its slithy tentacles around its prey.From the entry slithy
  • An unarmed jellyfish would never capture prey.From the entry unarmed
  • The snake began to constrict its prey.From the entry constrict
  • The snake left its poisoned prey to die.From the entry poisoned
  • Owls prey on small mammals, such as mice.From the entry prey on
  • The New Caledonian crow is known for creating tools from plant material to capture prey hiding in cracks and crevices.From the entry New Caledonian crow
  • Electrosensitive fish, such as sharks and catfish, are able to localize small prey by detection of the weak bioelectric field that these prey emanate.From the entry electrosensitive
  • Spotted-tailed quolls climb well, enabling birds and sugar gliders to be included in their prey.2024, David Owen, David Pemberton, Tasmanian Devil, Allen & Unwin, page 53. From the entry spotted-tailed quoll
  • Venom evolved from saliva and it's used primarily for catching and digesting prey.2022, Derek Muller, "How Horses Save Humans from Snake Bites", Veritasium, 00:03:20 ff.. From the entry venom
  • Otherwise one falls prey to being "postseasonal,” or on the wrong side of history.2019, Darius Sollohub, Millennials in Architecture, page 94. From the entry postseasonal
  • These so-called glowworms display a bright blue-green light that attracts prey such as midges, mayflies, and caddisflies.2019, William G. Deutsch, Alabama Rivers: A Celebration & Challenge, MindBridge Press, unnumbered page. From the entry dismalite
  • For example, kalicludin 1-3 from A. sulcata binds competitively to Kv1.2 channels to paralyse the prey rapidly.2015 June 18, Mahdokht Jouiaei et al., “Ancient Venom Systems: A Review on Cnidaria Toxins”, in Toxins, volume 7, →DOI. From the entry competitively
  • When they first hunt prey they go for the victim's throat and drink the fresh blood.2012, Lisa Regan, Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies, Amber Books Ltd, →ISBN, page 71. From the entry adlet
  • The female does not kill the prey when it injects it with venom.2011, Jay Dale, Deadly and Incredible Animals: Top Ten Minibeasts, page 11. From the entry emerald cockroach wasp
  • Instead, the wasp turns the prey into a live food source for its growing young.2011, Jay Dale, Deadly and Incredible Animals: Top Ten Minibeasts, page 11. From the entry emerald cockroach wasp
  • Is it the purpose of mosquitoes to ultimately provide calories to large birds of prey?2009, John Kricher, The Balance of Nature: Ecology's Enduring Myth, page 18. From the entry purpose
  • Adult snakeflies stalk their prey in a manner similar to snakes.2009, David Hugh Kattes, Insects of Texas: a Practical Guide, page 109. From the entry snakefly
  • Lieberman believes they ran their prey to death, often called “persistence hunting.”2009 March 18, Maywa Montenegro, “The Running Man, Revisited”, in Seed, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2009. From the entry persistence hunting
  • Apathetic, yet curious, he solved the conundrum by facebooking his prey, then weathering the blamestorm.2008 November 30, Gary Crooks, Spokane Spokesman-Review. From the entry blamestorm
  • Wart snakes are adapted to aquatic systems and prey almost exclusively on fish.2008, Mark Mitchell, Thomas N. Tully Jr., Manual of Exotic Pet Practice, page 142. From the entry wart snake
  • Rex unwise enough to venture into the wrong body of water in pursuit of prey.2007, Douglas Preston, Tyrannosaur Canyon, page 105. From the entry T. Rex
  • It uses both front and middle legs to grab and crush its spider and insect prey.2007, Naskrecki, Piotr, The smaller majority : the hidden world of the animals that dominate the tropics, page 247. From the entry heelwalker
  • And why are many experts and authorities preying on our fears to promote their own agenda?2007 May 11, Mick Hume, “Portugal: let’s all make it worse”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05…. From the entry paedophile-phobia
  • For example, crittercams have revealed Wedell seals flushing prey from crevices in the ice.2005, Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, Kit M. Kovacs, Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology, page 8. From the entry crittercam

Meaning of prey

  1. noun That which is or may be seized by animals to be devoured.
  2. noun A person or thing given up as a victim.
  3. noun A living thing, usually an animal, that is eaten by another living thing.

Full definition of prey

Questions about prey in a sentence

How do you use prey in a sentence?
Prey is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The deer became prey to the lion.”
What is a short sentence with prey?
“He became the prey of dengue.”
What does prey mean?
Prey means that which is or may be seized by animals to be devoured.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prey (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use prey in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/prey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.