despoil

Etymology

From Middle English despoylen, dispoylen, from Old French despoillier ( > French dépouiller), from Latin dēspoliō, dēspoliāre.

verb

  1. (transitive) To plunder; to pillage; take spoil from.
    They have come to witness the Beginning. The rebirth of Paradise, despoiled by mankind. 2003, Owaku, Hiroyuki, trans. Blaustein, Jeremy, et al., quoting Claudia Wolf, Silent Hill 3, Tokyo: Konami, PlayStation 2; PC
    To dreamers in the West, Tibet is a Shangri-La despoiled by Chinese ruthlessness and rapacity. 17 July 2010, The Economist, page 53
  2. (transitive) To violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob.
  3. (obsolete, transitive or reflexive) To strip (someone) of their clothes; to undress.

noun

  1. (obsolete) Plunder; spoliation.

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