deport
Americanverb (used with object)
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to expel (an alien) from a country; banish.
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to send or carry off; transport, especially forcibly.
The country deported its criminals.
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to bear, conduct, or behave (oneself ) in a particular manner.
verb
-
to remove (an alien) forcibly from a country; expel
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to carry (an inhabitant) forcibly away from his homeland; transport; exile; banish
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to conduct, hold, or behave (oneself) in a specified manner
Other Word Forms
- deportable adjective
- deportee noun
- deporter noun
- nondeportable adjective
- nondeported adjective
- undeported adjective
Etymology
Origin of deport
1475–85; < Middle French déporter < Latin dēportāre to carry away, banish oneself, equivalent to dē- de- + portāre to carry; see port 5
Explanation
To deport is to kick someone out of a country. Deporting is also to deliver a person to the authorities of another country. Although you might like to deport your little brother from your room, it’s something governments do. Governments have the power to deport. When you're deported, you get thrown out of a country, often because you were there illegally. This type of deporting is similar to exiling. Another form of deporting is even harsher: sometimes a person is not only tossed out of one country, but handed over to the government of another country. This is also called being extradited, and it usually happens to people wanted for a crime in the second country.
Vocabulary lists containing deport
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Latin Love, Vol I: portare
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Between Shades of Gray
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These include plans to deport refugees and asylum seekers or to house them in central accommodation.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
White House border czar Tom Homan insists that the purpose of these checks is to ensure well-being rather than to deport people.
From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026
The AEA allows the government to detain and deport citizens of hostile foreign nations in times of war or during an "invasion or predatory incursion."
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
Several men said the guards told them if they didn’t voluntarily deport, they would be sent to prisons in El Salvador, Africa or Guantanamo Bay.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
When the Nazis came looking for Jews to deport, all the people who lived on the streets found places to hide.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
