despoil


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Related to despoil: pillaged, plundered

de·spoil

 (dĭ-spoil′)
tr.v. de·spoiled, de·spoil·ing, de·spoils
1. To deprive of something valuable, especially by force; rob: The invaders despoiled the town of its art treasures. He was despoiled of his inheritance by crooked lawyers.
2. To ruin, especially by destroying or removing what is valuable: "a landscape that had been raped and despoiled by coal mining" (George Black).

[Middle English despoilen, from Old French despoillier, from Latin dēspoliāre : dē-, de- + spoliāre, to plunder (from spolium, booty).]

de·spoil′er n.
de·spoil′ment n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

despoil

(dɪˈspɔɪl)
vb
(tr) to strip or deprive by force; plunder; rob; loot
[C13: from Old French despoillier, from Latin dēspoliāre, from de- + spoliāre to rob (esp of clothing); see spoil]
deˈspoiler n
deˈspoilment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

de•spoil

(dɪˈspɔɪl)

v.t.
to strip of possessions, things of value, etc.; rob; plunder; pillage.
[1175–1225; Middle English < Old French despoillier < Latin dēspoliāre to strip, rob, plunder]
de•spoil′er, n.
de•spoil′ment, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

despoil


Past participle: despoiled
Gerund: despoiling

Imperative
despoil
despoil
Present
I despoil
you despoil
he/she/it despoils
we despoil
you despoil
they despoil
Preterite
I despoiled
you despoiled
he/she/it despoiled
we despoiled
you despoiled
they despoiled
Present Continuous
I am despoiling
you are despoiling
he/she/it is despoiling
we are despoiling
you are despoiling
they are despoiling
Present Perfect
I have despoiled
you have despoiled
he/she/it has despoiled
we have despoiled
you have despoiled
they have despoiled
Past Continuous
I was despoiling
you were despoiling
he/she/it was despoiling
we were despoiling
you were despoiling
they were despoiling
Past Perfect
I had despoiled
you had despoiled
he/she/it had despoiled
we had despoiled
you had despoiled
they had despoiled
Future
I will despoil
you will despoil
he/she/it will despoil
we will despoil
you will despoil
they will despoil
Future Perfect
I will have despoiled
you will have despoiled
he/she/it will have despoiled
we will have despoiled
you will have despoiled
they will have despoiled
Future Continuous
I will be despoiling
you will be despoiling
he/she/it will be despoiling
we will be despoiling
you will be despoiling
they will be despoiling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been despoiling
you have been despoiling
he/she/it has been despoiling
we have been despoiling
you have been despoiling
they have been despoiling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been despoiling
you will have been despoiling
he/she/it will have been despoiling
we will have been despoiling
you will have been despoiling
they will have been despoiling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been despoiling
you had been despoiling
he/she/it had been despoiling
we had been despoiling
you had been despoiling
they had been despoiling
Conditional
I would despoil
you would despoil
he/she/it would despoil
we would despoil
you would despoil
they would despoil
Past Conditional
I would have despoiled
you would have despoiled
he/she/it would have despoiled
we would have despoiled
you would have despoiled
they would have despoiled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.despoil - steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners"
take - take by force; "Hitler took the Baltic Republics"; "The army took the fort on the hill"
deplume, displume - strip of honors, possessions, or attributes
2.despoil - destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country"
ruin, destroy - destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

despoil

verb (Formal) plunder, destroy, strip, rob, devastate, wreck, rifle, deprive, loot, trash (slang), total (slang), ravage, dispossess, pillage, divest, denude, vandalize, wreak havoc upon the modern day industry which has despoiled the town
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

despoil

verb
To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war:
Archaic: harrow, spoil.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

despoil

[dɪsˈpɔɪl] VTdespojar (of de)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

despoil

vt personberauben (→ of gen); countrysideausplündern
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
"I have no purpose to despoil your dear family, nor to ruin your servants.
Then they vowed that even as they themselves had been despoiled they would despoil their oppressors, whether baron, abbot, knight, or squire, and that from each they would take that which had been wrung from the poor by unjust taxes, or land rents, or in wrongful fines.
We have seen, in all the examples of ancient and modern confederacies, the strongest tendency continually betraying itself in the members, to despoil the general government of its authorities, with a very ineffectual capacity in the latter to defend itself against the encroachments.
When he has nothing left, must not his desires, crowding in the nest like young ravens, be crying aloud for food; and he, goaded on by them, and especially by love himself, who is in a manner the captain of them, is in a frenzy, and would fain discover whom he can defraud or despoil of his property, in order that he may gratify them?
Let us kill as many as we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them later at your leisure."
But one day the chance was lost forever, in so far as it could come in time to save his loved ones, for he was ordered away upon a long expedition to the ice-clad south, to make war upon the natives there and despoil them of their furs, for such is the manner of the green Barsoomian; he does not labor for what he can wrest in battle from others.
And if, as I said, it was necessary that the people of Israel should be captive so as to make manifest the ability of Moses; that the Persians should be oppressed by the Medes so as to discover the greatness of the soul of Cyrus; and that the Athenians should be dispersed to illustrate the capabilities of Theseus: then at the present time, in order to discover the virtue of an Italian spirit, it was necessary that Italy should be reduced to the extremity that she is now in, that she should be more enslaved than the Hebrews, more oppressed than the Persians, more scattered than the Athenians; without head, without order, beaten, despoiled, torn, overrun; and to have endured every kind of desolation.
Within a week all the blooming roads had been despoiled, hundreds of miles of yellow sunflowers had been transformed into brown, rattling, burry stalks.
This we did, and the sails were hoisted, but before we had made any way the rocs reached their despoiled nest and hovered about it, uttering frightful cries when they discovered the mangled remains of their young one.
The poor people began by fearing them, but when they found that the men in Lincoln green who answered Robin Hood's horn meant them no harm, but despoiled the oppressor to relieve the oppressed, they 'gan to have great liking for them.
My mother inherited an estate from her husband, you have assassinated her; my name would have secured me the paternal estate, you have deprived me of it; you have despoiled me of my fortune.
Day after day through a cold streak of heavens as bare and poor as the inside of a rifled safe a rayless and despoiled sun would slink shamefacedly, without pomp or show, to hide in haste under the waters.