[pabianice]

>>the concept of the United States as a constitutionally-limited republic would have been decimated.

"Rerwrite!" To decimate means to lose 1 in 10. It is one of the most commonly misused words.

[HotHunt]

You are correct as to its original usage. But in the modern usage, the word means exactly what the commenter wrote:

dec·i·mate (verb)

1. kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of:

--"the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness" ·

--"the American chestnut, a species decimated by blight"

2. (historical) kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group.

[Windflier]

dec·i·mate
[ˈdesəˌmāt]
VERB

1. kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of: "the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness" · 

2. historical
kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group.