depose

[ dih-pohz ]

/ dɪˈpoʊz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR depose ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), de·posed, de·pos·ing.

to remove from office or position, especially high office: The people deposed the dictator.

to testify or affirm under oath, especially in a written statement: to depose that it was true.

Law. to take the deposition of; examine under oath: Two lawyers deposed the witness.

verb (used without object), de·posed, de·pos·ing.

to give sworn testimony, especially in writing.

Nearby words

Origin of depose

1250–1300; Middle English deposen < Old French deposer to put down, equivalent to de- de- + poser < Vulgar Latin *posāre, Late Latin pausāre; see pose¹

Related formsde·pos·a·ble, adjectivede·pos·er, nounun·de·pos·a·ble, adjectiveun·de·posed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for depose

They also sought and were denied the opportunity to depose the president.
Bradley Manning: ‘I Will Recover From This ... This Is Just a Stage in My Life’|Alexa O'Brien|August 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In London, where I met him on several occasions over the last decade, he invariably boasted of his latest efforts to depose Putin.
How Boris Berezovsky Made Vladimir Putin, and Putin Unmade Berezovsky|Owen Matthews|March 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Douglas Vassy, the attorney for Battley who was supposed to depose Gingrich, says, “There was no deposition.”
Gingrich Claims of Veracity in Divorces Don’t Hold Up|Wayne Barrett, Kyle Roerink|December 30, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He encouraged cross-border rebels seeking to depose the government of Chad.
What Will Be the Next Middle East Shock?|Rob Verger|February 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Mass movements can depose a leader; or, indeed, as with Barack Obama, elect one.
Egypt's Leaderless Revolution|Anne-Marie Slaughter|February 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Keep under passions, that they depose not reason from the government of your thoughts.
A Christian Directory (Volume 1 of 4)|Richard Baxter
Justinian was about to yield, and indeed had given the order, when the insurgents determined to depose him.
Constantinople|William Holden Hutton
Again a Pope was asserting his right to depose an English sovereign and to loose Englishmen from their bond of allegiance.
History of the English People, Volume V (of 8) |John Richard Green
As he has power to depose the Sultan for a lapse of orthodoxy, the result may be imagined.
The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.)|John Holland Rose
Attempts were made to send some one through to depose Marquez, but each one failed.
The Missourian|Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

British Dictionary definitions for depose

depose

/ (dɪˈpəʊz) /

verb

(tr) to remove from an office or position, esp one of power or rank

law to testify or give (evidence, etc) on oath, esp when taken down in writing; make a deposition

Derived Formsdeposable, adjectivedeposer, noun

Word Origin for depose

C13: from Old French deposer to put away, put down, from Late Latin dēpōnere to depose from office, from Latin: to put aside; see depone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for depose