despoil
verb /dɪˈspɔɪl/
/dɪˈspɔɪl/
(literary)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they despoil | /dɪˈspɔɪl/ /dɪˈspɔɪl/ |
| he / she / it despoils | /dɪˈspɔɪlz/ /dɪˈspɔɪlz/ |
| past simple despoiled | /dɪˈspɔɪld/ /dɪˈspɔɪld/ |
| past participle despoiled | /dɪˈspɔɪld/ /dɪˈspɔɪld/ |
| -ing form despoiling | /dɪˈspɔɪlɪŋ/ /dɪˈspɔɪlɪŋ/ |
- despoil something (of something) to steal something valuable from a place; to make a place less attractive by damaging or destroying it synonym plunderTopics Crime and punishmentc2Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French despoillier, from Latin despoliare ‘rob, plunder’ (from spolia ‘spoil’).