despoil
/dɪˈspɔɪl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.58 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[T]here vvas brought unto him an horſe named Babylonius, vvhich happening to be ſore vexed vvith a ſuddaine gripe or vvring in his belly, fell dovvne, and vvhiles hee vvas not able to endure the paine, vvallovveth along, and happeneth to beſprent his capariſon and ornaments richly garniſhed vvith gold and precious ſtones. At vvhich ſtrange ſight he tooke great joy, and cryed out, vvith the applauſe of thoſe next about him, That Babylon vvas fallen, and lay along on the ground diſpoyled of all her ornaments."
- "a law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled"
- "Ripton was familiar with the rod, a monster much despoiled of his terrors by intimacy."
- ". Nevertheless, like everything else worth while, however sacred and precious and well-guarded, they have always been subject to attack, mostly by despoiling gainseekers, -- mischief-makers of every degree from Satan to supervisors, lumbermen, cattlemen, farmers, etc., eagerly trying to make everything dollarable, often thinly disguised in smiling philanthropy, calling pocket-filling plunder "Utilization of beneficent natural resources, that man and beast may be fed and the dear Nation grow great.""
- "They've come to witness the Beginning. The rebirth of Paradise, despoiled by mankind."
- "To dreamers in the West, Tibet is a Shangri-La despoiled by Chinese ruthlessness and rapacity."
Etymology
From Middle English despoylen, dispoylen, from Old French despoillier ( > French dépouiller), from Latin dēspoliō, dēspoliāre.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: despoylen,dispoylen, despoillier, dēspoliō, despoylle,dispoyll, despoille,despueille