deplete

«deplete» in Mova's school dictionary: To use up a large amount of something so that there is… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (deplete, depletes, depleted, depleting)

meaning for a pupil

To use up a large amount of something so that there is much less left: «Overfishing has depleted fish stocks». tree →

sense in the lessons

In science and geography lessons on the environment, people deplete natural resources (oil, coal, forests, fish, fresh water); the ozone layer was depleted by chemicals called CFCs, which were banned in 1987 (the Montreal Protocol), and it is slowly recovering. In health, exercise depletes energy stores and you need to eat and drink to refill them. In stories, an army's supplies are «depleted». Phrases: «depleted stocks», «deplete resources», «ozone depletion», «severely depleted».

examples

• Overfishing has depleted the cod in the North Sea. tree →
• The long winter depleted our firewood. tree →
• Running a marathon depletes your body's energy. tree →
• Chemicals called CFCs depleted the ozone layer. tree →
• The team was depleted by injuries. tree →
• We must not deplete the Earth's water faster than rain can refill it. tree →

note

Noun: «depletion». Adjective: «depleted» (a depleted team = one with fewer players). Formal; in everyday speech say «use up» or «run down». In maths problems, «deplete by 20%» means 80% is left: a store of 500 litres depleted by 20% has 400 litres.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «deplete» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.