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- Dictionarydespoil/dɪˈspɔɪl/
verb
- 1. steal or violently remove valuable possessions from; plunder: "the church was despoiled of its marble wall covering" Similar
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DESPOIL definition: 1. to make a place less attractive especially by taking things away from it by force: 2. to make a…. Learn more.
The meaning of DESPOIL is to strip of belongings, possessions, or value : pillage. How to use despoil in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Despoil.
To despoil a place means to make it less attractive, valuable, or important by taking things away from it or by destroying it. [ formal ] ...people who despoil the countryside.
Despoil is to spoil, only worse. You may spoil a dinner party by being late, but we all despoil the earth with pollution and over-consumption. The Latin root of despoil meant "to strip or rob" and although despoil is used more broadly now, it has that sense within it.
DESPOIL meaning: 1. to make a place less attractive especially by taking things away from it by force: 2. to make a…. Learn more.
Definition of despoil verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
A complete guide to the word "DESPOIL": definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, grammar insights, collocations, examples, and translations.
DESPOIL meaning: 1 : to severely damage or ruin (a place); 2 : to forcefully take what is valuable from (a place)
OED's earliest evidence for despoil is from 1474, in a translation by William Caxton, printer, merchant, and diplomat. It is also recorded as a verb from the Middle English period (1150—1500). despoil is a borrowing from French .
To deprive of something valuable, especially by force; rob: The invaders despoiled the town of its art treasures. He was despoiled of his inheritance by crooked lawyers. 2. To ruin, especially by destroying or removing what is valuable: "a landscape that had been raped and despoiled by coal mining" (George Black).
