despoil
verb (used with object)
to strip of possessions, things of value, etc.; rob; plunder; pillage.
despoiled
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past participleof despoil.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof despoil.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
despoilverb (used with object)to strip of possessions, things of value, etc.; rob; plunder; pillage.
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.
Metaphors may have no place at a concentration camp, but it’s hard to look at this beautiful enclosed space and not see it, perversely, as the most despoiled of Edens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
Too much of Seattle has been despoiled by the greed and power of developers.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
The natural environment with which Native Americans had established a harmonious and symbiotic relationship, was similarly despoiled by the twin logic of expropriation and colonization that spread under the logic of manifest destiny.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 10, 2021
The shots of despoiled industrial landscapes in and around New York are mutely eloquent.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2020
Disguised now as an officer, or a farmer; or again, as a Quaker, he despoiled the King’s liege subjects very effectively.
From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
