FreeVocabulary
Deplete
/dɪˈpliːt/ verb mediumTo reduce the amount of a resource, usually through continued or careless use.
Decades of overfishing had depleted the region's cod population to a fraction of its former size.
Memory Trick
'De-' (down/away) plus Latin 'plere' (to fill) — the opposite of filling up, deplete drains a supply toward empty.