Depopulate
Depopulate , transitive verb
[Latin depopulatus, past participle of depopulari to ravage; de- + populari to ravage, from populus people: compare Old French depopuler, French dépeupler. See People.]
To deprive of inhabitants, whether by death or by expulsion; to reduce greatly the populousness of; to dispeople; to unpeople.
Where is this viper,
That would depopulate the city?
It is not synonymous with laying waste or destroying, being limited to the loss of inhabitants; as, an army or a famine may depopulate a country. It rarely expresses an entire loss of inhabitants, but often a great diminution of their numbers; as, the deluge depopulated the earth.
Depopulate , intransitive verb
To become dispeopled. [Rare]
Whether the country be depopulating or not.