despoil
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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 Englishdespoilen, from Old Frenchdespoillier, from Latindēspoliāre :dē-,de- +spoliāre,to plunder (fromspolium,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 Frenchdespoillier, from Latindēspoliāre, from de- +spoliāre to rob (esp of clothing); see spoil]
deˈspoilern
deˈspoilmentn
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 Frenchdespoillier < Latindēspoliāre 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 |
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despoil |
despoil |
Present |
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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 |
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I am despoiling |
you are despoiling |
he/she/it is despoiling |
we are despoiling |
you are despoiling |
they are despoiling |
Present Perfect |
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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:
Switch to new thesaurus
Verb | 1. | 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" |
2. | despoil - destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country" |
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 uponthe 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
verbThe 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
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
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
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"I have no purpose todespoil your dear family, nor to ruin your servants.
Then they vowed that even as they themselves had beendespoiled they woulddespoil 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, todespoil 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 ordespoil 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 candespoil 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 anddespoil 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 beendespoiled, 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 theirdespoiled 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, butdespoiled 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 havedespoiled 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 anddespoiled sun would slink shamefacedly, without pomp or show, to hide in haste under the waters.
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