[prey] 
| 1. | an animal hunted or seized for food, esp. by a carnivorous animal. |
| 2. | a person or thing that is the victim of an enemy, a swindler, a disease, etc.; gull. |
| 3. | the action or habit of preying: a beast of prey. |
| 4. | Archaic. booty or plunder. |
| 5. | to seize and devour prey, as an animal does (usually fol. by on or upon): Foxes prey on rabbits. |
| 6. | to make raids or attacks for booty or plunder: The Vikings preyed on coastal settlements. |
| 7. | to exert a harmful or destructive influence: His worries preyed upon his mind. |
| 8. | to victimize another or others (usually fol. by on or upon): loan sharks that prey upon the poor. |
prey on
Plunder or pillage; also, make a profit at someone else's expense, victimize. For example, Vikings preyed on the coastal towns of England, or The rich have been preying on the poor for centuries. [Late 1500s]
Hunt, especially in order to eat, as in Their cat preys on all the rodents in the neighborhood. [c. 1600]
Exert a baneful or injurious effect, as in Guilt preyed on his mind. [c. 1700]