How to Use prey on/upon in a Sentence

prey on/upon

phrasal verb
  • They’ve been known to scale or dig beneath fences to prey on pets.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024
  • But the curse of the castle continues to prey on his mind.
    — EW.com, 8 July 2024
  • On land, birds, crabs, and small mammals prey on eggs and hatchlings.
    — Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
  • This is due to that area's seal population, which the sharks prey on.
    — Ronn Blitzer, Fox News, 30 June 2022
  • Wolves kill some livestock and hunting dogs each year as well as prey on deer and elk.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Hawks and owls prey on rodents bounding across grassy slopes.
    — Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Live birds of prey on display during the breakfast hours.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 26 July 2024
  • This suggests the attack was devised to prey on users in Europe and Asia.
    — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2025
  • Tiger sharks are one of the most fierce species in its genus, measure about 15 feet long and often prey on turtles.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 7 June 2024
  • The case leads them down a rabbit hole where rich predators prey on the innocent.
    — Sun Sentinel, 24 Jan. 2023
  • This helps the nighttime hunters prey on rodents scurrying on the ground.
    — Daniel Wine, CNN, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Under these circumstances, killer whales have been known to hunt and prey on moose.
    — Scott Travers, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024
  • Other big cats and eagles are known to prey on cheetahs.
    — Claudia Dominguez, CNN, 18 Feb. 2023
  • Instead, these poisonous toads proved deadly to the native species that tried to prey on them.
    — Discover Magazine, 14 Oct. 2024
  • And vulnerable minds and hearts and bodies are easy to prey on.
    — Jordan Riefe, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
  • During their journey, terns must watch out for raptors and gulls that might prey on them.
    — Scott Travers, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
  • At Shedd, the eels are well-fed and have no need to prey upon the others living in their exhibit.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
  • In addition, Palmyra Atoll has been cleared of invasive species, like rats, that might prey on the birds.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Apr. 2025
  • Even the immature stages, or tadpoles, of Cuban treefrogs prey on the tadpoles of native species.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2025
  • These scams prey on people with tax debt, offering false hope for a quick fix.
    — Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 22 Sep. 2024
  • The king of the dinosaurs may have not been the only Cretaceous carnivore to prey on its own kin.
    — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 1 May 2024
  • How do Burmese pythons eat? Burmese pythons prey on mammals, birds and other reptiles.
    — Jennifer Borresen, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
  • That’s because there are so many animals that prey on smolts.
    — oregonlive, 27 Aug. 2023
  • As the dead awaken and prey on the living, a group of people take shelter at a farmhouse and try to survive a very dark night.
    — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 19 Aug. 2022
  • High transaction fees add to worries that they can be used to prey on poor people.
    — Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022
  • Of the species humans prey on, almost 40 percent are threatened.
    — Emily Harwitz, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2023
  • Coyotes are known to prey on very small and young dogs, so keep those leashed, especially at night.
    — Wes Siler, Outside Online, 27 Mar. 2025
  • With a playful touch and a light choke, her work turns traditional notions of hunter and prey on their head.
    — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 18 Oct. 2024
  • The state agency advises members of the public not to kill a snake, even a venomous one, explaining that snakes do not prey on humans and will not chase them.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 4 June 2025
  • The doc follows an aging shepherd who struggles to find a successor as bears prey on his flock, and a teenage boy who becomes obsessed with tracking the bears.
    — Addie Morfoot, Variety, 2 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prey on/upon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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