How do you use the word "victim" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "victim": The tarantula seized its victim very quickly. Who is the victim of the accident?

Victim Meaning

/ˈvɪktɪm/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounOne that is harmed—killed, injured, subjected to oppression, deceit, or otherwise adversely affected—by someone or something, especially another person or event, force, or condition; in particular

Sentence Examples

The tarantula seized its victim very quickly.

Who is the victim of the accident?

Having fallen victim to increased competition, the company went bankrupt.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The police tried to help the ____ of the violent crime that happened last night.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The charity provides support to the ____ of the recent natural disaster, helping them to rebuild their local homes today.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyk-der. Latin victima Middle French victimebor. English victim From Middle French victime, from Latin victima (“sacrificial animal”). Although this root and victor drive from homophonous PIE roots, they are traditionally reconstructed as separate words and thus not cognates.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle." — 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

"Flexibility, one of the hallmarks of German military doctrine, was a victim of the war." — 2014, Holger H. Herwig, The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 116:

"The villian, perceiving his danger, groped about in search of his victim, gave him another blow and disappeared." — 1838, The Lady's Book, volumes 16-17, page 125:

"“There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom.[…]”" — 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

"The role of victim, whether represented by a character on stage or conveyed verbally, is the necessary counterpart of the evil-doer." — 1980, Heather M. Arden, Fools' Plays: A Study of Satire in the Sottie, page 53:

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