Hypertext Webster Gateway: "despoil"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Despoil \De*spoil"\, n.
Spoil. [Obs.] --Wolsey.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Despoil \De*spoil"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Despoiled}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Despoiling}.] [OF. despoiller, F. d['e]pouiller, L.
despoliare, despoliatum; de- + spoliare to strip, rob,
spolium spoil, booty. Cf. {Spoil}, {Despoliation}.]
1. To strip, as of clothing; to divest or unclothe. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.
2. To deprive for spoil; to plunder; to rob; to pillage; to
strip; to divest; -- usually followed by of.
The clothed earth is then bare, Despoiled is the
summer fair. --Gower.
A law which restored to them an immense domain of
which they had been despoiled. --Macaulay.
Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss.
--Milton.
Syn: To strip; deprive; rob; bereave; rifle.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
despoil
v 1: steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people
looted the stores that were deserted by their owners"
[syn: {plunder}, {loot}, {reave}, {strip}, {rifle}, {ransack},
{pillage}, {foray}]
2: destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the
beautiful country" [syn: {rape}, {violate}, {plunder}]
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