Despoil \De*spoil"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Despoiled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Despoiling}.] [OF. despoiller, F. d['e]pouiller, L. despoliare, despoliatum; de- + spoliare to strip, rob, spolium spoil, booty. Cf. {Spoil}, {Despoliation}.] 1. To strip, as of clothing; to divest or unclothe. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
2. To deprive for spoil; to plunder; to rob; to pillage; to strip; to divest; -- usually followed by of.
The clothed earth is then bare, Despoiled is the summer fair. --Gower.
A law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled. --Macaulay.
Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss. --Milton.
Syn: To strip; deprive; rob; bereave; rifle.
despoil \de*spoil"\, n. Spoil. [Obs.] --Wolsey.
Toxic and radioactive wastes and dumped garbage that could poison drinking water and despoil the land.
Over the years, it has become covered by scrub, bushes and the detritus of modern life. The tip is iron ore, industrial despoil from when Merthyr was the undisputed iron town of the world.