[prey on] or [prey upon] {v.}
1. To habitually kill and eat; catch for food.
* /Cats prey on mice./
2. To capture or take in spoils of war or robbery.
* /Pirates preyed on American ships in the years just after the Revolutionary War./
3. To cheat; rob.
* /Gangsters preyed on businesses of many kinds while the sale of liquor was prohibited./
4. To have a tiring and weakening effect on; weaken.
* /Ill health had preyed on him for years./* /Business worries preyed on his mind./
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