depletes

Depletes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb deplete. To deplete something is to reduce its amount, capacity, or number to a lower level, often toward exhaustion. The term is widely used in discussions of natural resources, energy, finances, and systems where inputs are consumed faster than they are replenished.

Etymology: Deplete derives from prefix de- meaning removal and from Latin plenus “full.” The sense shifted from “to empty out” a full state to “to exhaust or reduce.” The word entered English in the early modern period and has since become common in technical and academic writing.

Grammar and usage: Depletes is used with a singular subject in the present simple, e.g., "The drought depletes groundwater." The corresponding forms are depleted (past) and depleting (present participle). The noun form is depletion.

Contexts and examples: In environmental science, depletes resources such as water, minerals, and fossil fuels. In economics, it can describe depletion of capital or inventories. In technology, batteries deplete as they are used, reducing stored energy. The word often appears with adjectives like rapidly, steadily, or unsustainably to convey rate and scale of reduction.

See also: depletion, depletion curve, replenishment, exhaustion, sustainability.