Despoil

//dɪˈspɔɪl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Plunder; spoliation. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "’Tis done;—despoil and desolation / O’er Rylstone’s fair domain have blown; […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To plunder; to pillage; take spoil from. transitive

    "[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."

  2. 2
    destroy and strip of its possession wordnet
  3. 3
    To violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob. transitive

    "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."

  4. 4
    steal goods; take as spoils wordnet
  5. 5
    To strip (someone) of their clothes; to undress. obsolete, reflexive, transitive

    "So syr Persants doughter dyd as her fader bad her / and soo she wente vnto syr Beaumayns bed / & pryuely she dispoylled her / & leid her doune by hym / & thenne he awoke & sawe her & asked her what she was"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English despoylle, dispoyll, from Old French despoille, despueille, deverbal from despoillier.

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