dispossess

[ dis-puh-zes ]

/ ˌdɪs pəˈzɛs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dispossess ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to put (a person) out of possession, especially of real property; oust.

to banish.

to abandon ownership of (a building), especially as a bad investment: Landlords have dispossessed many old tenement buildings.

Nearby words

dispose of, disposed, disposer, disposition, dispositive, dispossess, dispossessed, disposure, dispraise, dispread, disprize

Origin of dispossess

1425–75; dis-¹ + possess; replacing Middle English disposseden, equivalent to dis-¹ + posseden (< Old French posseder) < Latin possidēre; see possess

SYNONYMS FOR dispossess

1 See strip¹.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dispossess ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

dis·pos·ses·sion, noundis·pos·ses·sor, noundis·pos·ses·so·ry

[dis-puh-zes-uh-ree] /ˌdɪs pəˈzɛs ə ri/, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for dispossess

I have come hither to seek your father, in order to dispossess myself of my sovereign's gift.
My Novel, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
But will the time never come, when other claims will dispossess me of my place?
Alone|Marion Harland
By occupying this portion of the soil of Gaul we dispossess none of our own race.
The Poniard's Hilt|Eugne Sue
All attempts, it is said, to dispossess them of the station they had chosen to occupy, have invariably proved fruitless.
Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country|John Pagen White

If Hugh Capet dispossess the legitimate heir of Charlemagne, he becomes the root of a race of heroes.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 10 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)

British Dictionary definitions for dispossess

dispossess

/ (ˌdɪspəˈzɛs) /

verb

(tr) to take away possession of something, esp property; expel

Derived Forms

dispossession, noundispossessor, noundispossessory, adjective

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