divest
/dʌɪˈvɛst
/ /dɪˈvɛst/verb [with object] (divest someone/thing of)
1Deprive someone of (power, rights, or possessions): men are unlikely to be divested of power without a struggle...
- She was divested of her gold medal minutes after winning the 800 m in the Seoul Asiad for crossing the lane.
- But we can't give government the unilateral right to divest us of all our rights.
- It will, of course, take more than the odd late-season slump to divest Arsenal of their undoubted glamour.
Synonyms
deprive, strip, dispossess, relieve;
rob, cheat out of, trick out of, do out of
informal diddle out of
literary despoil
archaic reave
1.1Deprive something of (a particular quality): he has divested the original play of its charm...
- Pleasantly in-the-face, the play divests mythological heroes of their aura and presents them in a lacklustre light.
- He fears the Goshree bridges would divest the islands of their charm of being aloof and convert them into a thoroughfare.
- The pain makes his head throb and divests his brain of any sort of thinking power.
1.2Rid oneself of (a business interest or investment): the government’s policy of divesting itself of state holdings...
- He established the tabloid Daily Mirror in 1941, but divested himself of all his newspaper interests in 1958.
- He informed the committee that he had divested himself of all outside interests.
- During the Nineties healthcare firms were keen to divest themselves of their interests in vaccines.
1.3 dated or humorous Relieve someone of (a garment): she divested him of his coat...
- Croft got up and went out into the hall where Jeffries divested him of his lounging jacket and helped him into a black frock coat.
- Then, with a faint blush colouring his cheeks, he divested her of her stained jeans.
- She directed her gaze heavenward then proceeded to divest him of his coat.
Synonyms
strip, relieve, denude;
remove, take off, pull off, peel off, shed;
unclothe, undress, disrobe
dated doff
Origin
Early 17th century: alteration of devest, from Old French desvestir, from des- (expressing removal) + Latin vestire (from vestis 'garment').