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# prey

«prey» in Mova's school dictionary: **an animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (prey, uncountable; a prey — rare); verb (prey on, preys, preyed, preying)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Prey is an animal that is hunted and eaten by another animal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#m1)

2) To prey on means to hunt and eat other animals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#m2)

3) Prey on can also mean to cheat or hurt people who are weak or easy to trick, like scammers do. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science food chains, the predator hunts the prey: in fox → rabbit, the rabbit is the prey. Many prey animals have eyes on the sides of the head to see danger and use camouflage to hide. In safety: scammers and bullies prey on people who are trusting. Phrases: bird of prey, fall prey to, predator and prey.

### examples

- The rabbit is prey for the fox. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x1)
- Eagles are birds of prey. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x2)
- Lions creep up on their prey. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x3)
- Spiders trap their prey in webs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x4)
- Prey animals often live in large groups for safety. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x5)
- Owls prey on mice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x6)
- Scammers prey on older people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x7)
- The zebra became prey for the crocodile. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x8)
- It is coming for its prey! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/#x9)

### note

Homophone: pray (to talk to God). Prey is usually uncountable: «a lot of prey», not «a lot of preys». An animal can be both predator and prey: a frog eats insects and is eaten by snakes.

### In the corpora

- [In the death roll a crocodile spins in the water to tear chunks off its prey, because it can't chew.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/29-crocodiles-and-alligators/14/)
- [Pit vipers such as rattlesnakes have heat-sensing pits on their faces that find warm-blooded prey in total darkness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/30-snakes-and-lizards/10/)
- [A frog swallows prey whole and pulls its eyeballs down into its head to help push the food down its throat.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/32-frogs-toads-newts-and-salamanders/10/)
- [Birds of prey, also called raptors, hunt other animals with sharp eyes, hooked beaks and gripping feet with curved talons.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/0/)
- [Harris's hawks hunt in family groups, which is rare for birds of prey, and they are often trained by falconers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/34-birds-of-prey-and-owls/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «prey» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prey/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.