The word for today is…
decimate (verb):
1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth man of
2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from
3a : to reduce drastically especially in number
b : to cause great destruction or harm to
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : The connection between decimate and the number ten harks back to a brutal practice of the army of ancient Rome. A unit that was guilty of a severe crime (such as mutiny) was punished by selecting and executing one-tenth of its soldiers, thereby scaring the remaining nine-tenths into obedience. The word comes from Latin decem, meaning “ten.” Decimate strayed from its “tenth” meaning and nowadays refers to the act of destroying or hurting something in great numbers.
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