GoodTaste
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- Feb 19, 2016
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The phrase "killing a something" appears to be unusual to me. It is normally either "killing something" or "killing a thing" and thus Cambridge Dictionary has made a mistake. I am not absolutely sure.
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decimation
noun [ U ]
UK /ˌdes.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/ US /ˌdes.əˈmeɪ.ʃən/
the act of killing a something in large numbers, or reducing something severely:
the virtual decimation of the population through influenza.
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/decimation?q=decimation+
Click to enlarge.
Oxford Dictionaries defines it very clearly:
decimation
Pronunciation /ˌdesəˈmāSH(ə)n/ /ˌdɛsəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
NOUN
1The killing or destruction of a large proportion of a group or species.
‘our growing hunger for fish has resulted in the decimation of fish stocks’
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decimation
noun [ U ]
UK /ˌdes.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/ US /ˌdes.əˈmeɪ.ʃən/
the act of killing a something in large numbers, or reducing something severely:
the virtual decimation of the population through influenza.
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/decimation?q=decimation+
Click to enlarge.
Oxford Dictionaries defines it very clearly:
decimation
Pronunciation /ˌdesəˈmāSH(ə)n/ /ˌdɛsəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
NOUN
1The killing or destruction of a large proportion of a group or species.
‘our growing hunger for fish has resulted in the decimation of fish stocks’