de·plete (d?-pl?t?)tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes 1. To consume or reduce to a very low amount; use up: drought that depleted the stores of grain.2. To remove the contents or important elements of; empty out or exhaust: overfishing that depleted the lake of trout; farming practices that depleted the soil of nutrients.[Latin d?pl?re, d?pl?t-, to empty : d?-, de- + pl?re, to fill; see pel?- in Indo-European roots.]de·plet?a·ble adj.Synonyms: deplete, drain, exhaust, sap1 These verbs mean to use up something important that is hard to replace. Deplete refers to gradually consuming something essential: Medical bills quickly depleted our savings. To drain is to draw down a resource or supply to a critical level: War often drains a nation’s economy. Exhaust stresses depletion to a point of emptiness or uselessness: “The Depression had exhausted the capacity of private charities and state and local governments to cope with the needs of millions of unemployed Americans” (Patrick Maney). Sap suggests a slow loss of something vital: “The [ivory] trade certainly sapped labor from farming and disrupted village life” (Eric Scigliano).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.deplete (d??pli?t) vb (tr) 1. to use up (supplies, money, energy, etc); reduce or exhaust2. to empty entirely or partially3. (Medicine) med to empty or reduce the fluid contents of (an organ or vessel)[C19: from Latin d?pl?re to empty out, from de- + pl?re to fill] de?pletable adj de?pletion n de?pletive, de?pletory adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014de?plete (d??plit) v.t. -plet?ed, -plet?ing. to decrease seriously or exhaust the abundance or supply of. [1800?10;