Link Centre Dictionary

despoil

des·poil

UK/dɪˈspɔɪl/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

steal goods; take as spoils

  • “During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners”
Synonyms
2.

destroy and strip of its possession

  • “The soldiers raped the beautiful country”
Synonyms

Origin

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

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.