De·pop·u·late v. t. [imp. & p. p. Depopulated p. pr. & vb. n. Depopulating ]  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?   --Shak.
 Note: ☞ 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.
 depopulated
      adj : having lost inhabitants as by war or disease; "the 15th
            century plagues left vast areas of Europe depopulated"