decimate

音標發(fā)音

Bad policy can decimate the social fabric, but good policy can only modestly improve it.
壞的政策可以毀掉社會結(jié)構(gòu)，而好的政策也只能稍稍地改進社會結(jié)構(gòu)。
However, the food industry yesterday slammed the idea as 'dangerous', 'totally unrealistic' and likely to decimate British agriculture.
但是，食品工業(yè)昨日抨擊這個做法是危險的不現(xiàn)實的，而且極有可能毀掉英國農(nóng)業(yè)。
The lionfish gorge on small fish, mollusks and invertebrates, enough to fill out to as much as 480 grams and decimate local populations on the coral reefs they inhabit.
獅子魚以小的魚類，軟體動物和無脊椎動物為食，足夠?qū)⑸眢w填至高達 480 克，在他們所居住的珊瑚礁大量殺死本地物種。

And Joseph knows that it would decimate his father Jacob to lose Rachel's only remaining son, but he's testing his brothers to see whether they have reformed since the day that they sold him into slavery.
約瑟夫知道這將打擊他父親雅各布,如果失去Rachel唯一剩下的兒子，但他只想考驗兄弟看他們是否改過自新,在他們把他變賣為奴之后。
耶魯公開課 - 舊約導(dǎo)論課程節(jié)選

Happily, this is a time when we can root for Gates to decimate his foes.
FORBES: Ruthless Philanthropy
The recent financial crisis showed us all how a buy-and-hold strategy will decimate your wealth.
FORBES: A Review of "Investing Without Borders"
He even digs into three that could one day decimate humanity: nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
FORBES: Magazine Article

To decimate something such as a group of people or animals means to destroy a very large number of them.
To decimate a system or organization means to reduce its size and effectiveness greatly.