English
Etymology
Latin despoliare
Pronunciation
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-�ɪl|-�ɪl
Verb
en-verb
- transitive To strip of possessions; to divest or unclothe; to undress.
- transitive To deprive for spoil; to take spoil from; to plunder; to rob; to pillage.
Quotations
1614: w:Sir Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh, History of the World
:The Earl of March, following the plain path which his father had trodden out, despoiled Henry the father, and Edward the son, both of their lives and kingdom.
1667: w:John Milton|John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 9, 410-11
:To intercept thy way, or send thee back / Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss.
1849: w:Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Macaulay, History of England, Chapter 20
:A law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled.
Related terms
despoiler
despoilment
despoliation
spoliate
spoliation
Noun
despoil
- obsolete plunder|Plunder; spoliation.
References
R:Century 1911
R:Webster 1913
Anagrams
dipoles
spoiled
io:despoil
it:despoil
te:despoil
vi:despoil
zh:despoil
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