Meaning of “predatory” in the English Dictionary

English

"predatory" in English

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predatoryadjective

uk ​ /ˈpred.ə.tər.i/ us ​ /ˈpred.ə.tɔːr.i/

› A predatory animal kills and eats other animals:

The owl is a predatory bird that kills its prey with its claws.

› mainly disapproving A predatory person or organization tries to get something that belongs to someone else:

The company spent much effort in avoiding takeover bids from predatory competitors.

› disapproving used to describe someone who expresses sexual interest in a very obvious way:

I hate going to bars on my own because men look at you in such a predatory way.

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(Definition of “predatory” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

"predatory" in American English

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predatoryadjective

us ​ /ˈpred·əˌtɔr·i, -ˌtoʊr-/

› People or organizations who are predatory tend to use others for their own advantage:

Larger companies, which played a predatory role, swooped down to cash in on the new fad.

(Definition of “predatory” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

"predatory" in Business English

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predatoryadjective

uk ​ /ˈpredətəri/ us ​ /ˈpredətɔri/

› used to describe a situation where a company is looking to buy another company that is in a weak financial position:

Trading was heavy, sparking speculation that the group, clearly vulnerable to a bid, was attracting predatory attention.
The chances of a predatory takeover bid from its US rival receded.

(Definition of “predatory” from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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