Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - decimate

 transitive verb  (-mated; -mating)  Etymology: Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare, from decimus tenth, from decem ten  Date: 1660  1. to select by lot and kill every tenth man of  2. to exact a tax of 10 percent from poor as a ~d Cavalier — John Dryden  3.  a. to reduce drastically especially in number cholera ~d the population  b. to cause great destruction or harm to firebombs ~d the city an industry ~d by recession  • decimation noun