The Collaborative International Dictionary
Prey \Prey\, n. [OF. preie, F. proie, L. praeda, probably for praeheda. See Prehensile, and cf. Depredate, Predatory.] Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the
spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest.
--Num. xxxi.
12.
2. That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey.
--Job iv.
ii.
Already sees herself the monster's prey.
--Dryden.
3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey.
--Shak.
Beast of prey, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.
Wiktionary
n. 1 A carnivorous animal that hunts for its food, especially one that preys on vertebrates. 2 (context figuratively English) A predatory man or woman, savagely cruel and ruthless in his or her treatment of others.
Usage examples of "beast of prey".
She saw him eating with his hands, tearing his food like a beast of prey, and wiping his greasy fingers upon his thighs.
A little more than a year ago I was a naked beast of prey in an African jungle.
The barest fraction of a second before his spring another beast of prey above him leaped, its weird and savage cry mingling with his.
With the rifle shots of the white men showering about him he had reverted to the savagery of the beast that is inherent in each of us, but that flamed more strongly in this boy whose father had been raised a beast of prey.
Without his purple robe the man seemed less like a prince than some repellent beast of prey.
There he crouched, a savage beast of prey, awaiting the coming of its victim.
Besides, there was always the chance that he'd surprise a dangerous beast of prey that had tracked the same quarry, and then he'd need the pulse to defend himself.
A fierce beast of prey that roams the low hills surrounding the dead seas of ancient Mars.