Adjacent Words

Divest definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIVEST, v.t. [L. It is the same word as devest, but the latter is appropriately used as a technical term in law.]
1. To strip of clothes, arms or equipage; opposed to invest.
2. To deprive; as, to divest one of his rights or privileges; to divest one of title or property.
3. To deprive or strip of any thing that covers , surrounds or attends; as, to divest one of his glory; to divest a subject of deceptive appearances, or false ornaments.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: take away possessions from someone; "The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets" [syn: deprive, strip, divest]
2: deprive of status or authority; "he was divested of his rights and his title"; "They disinvested themselves of their rights" [syn: divest, disinvest] [ant: enthrone, invest, vest]
3: reduce or dispose of; cease to hold (an investment); "The company decided to divest"; "the board of trustees divested $20 million in real estate property"; "There was pressure on the university to disinvest in South Africa" [syn: divest, disinvest] [ant: commit, invest, place, put]
4: remove (someone's or one's own) clothes; "The nurse quickly undressed the accident victim"; "She divested herself of her outdoor clothes"; "He disinvested himself of his garments" [syn: strip, undress, divest, disinvest]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: alteration of devest Date: 1623 1. a. to deprive or dispossess especially of property, authority, or title b. to undress or strip especially of clothing, ornament, or equipment c. rid, free 2. to take away from a person • divestment noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 (usu. foll. by of; often refl.) unclothe; strip (divested himself of his jacket). 2 deprive, dispossess; free, rid (cannot divest himself of the idea). Derivatives: divestiture n. divestment n. divesture n. Etymology: earlier devest f. OF desvestir etc. (as DIS-, L vestire f. vestis garment)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Divest Di*vest", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Divested; p. pr. & vb. n. Divesting.] [LL. divestire (di- = dis- + L. vestire to dress), equiv. to L. devestire. It is the same word as devest, but the latter is rarely used except as a technical term in law. See Devest, Vest.] 1. To unclothe; to strip, as of clothes, arms, or equipage; -- opposed to invest. 2. Fig.: To strip; to deprive; to dispossess; as, to divest one of his rights or privileges; to divest one's self of prejudices, passions, etc. Wretches divested of every moral feeling. --Goldsmith. The tendency of the language to divest itself of its gutturals. --Earle. 3. (Law) See Devest. --Mozley & W.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(divests, divesting, divested) 1. If you divest yourself of something that you own or are responsible for, you get rid of it or stop being responsible for it. (FORMAL) The company divested itself of its oil interests. = rid VERB: V pron-refl of n 2. If something or someone is divested of a particular quality, they lose that quality or it is taken away from them. (FORMAL) ...in the 1960s, when sexual love had been divested of sin... They have divested rituals of their original meaning... = strip VERB: be V-ed of n, V n of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Strip, undress, unclothe, disrobe. 2. Deprive, strip, dispossess.

Moby Thesaurus

abridge, bankrupt, bare, bereave, bleed, bleed white, curtail, cut off, denudate, denude, deplume, deprive, deprive of, despoil, disencumber, disentitle, disinherit, dismantle, displume, dispossess, disrobe, doff, drain, dry, ease one of, exhaust, expose, flay, fleece, impoverish, lay bare, lay open, lighten one of, lose, milk, mine, mulct, oust, pick clean, pluck, plunder, put off, relieve, remove, rid, rob, shear, skin, spoil, strip, strip bare, suck dry, take away from, take from, take off, tap, uncloak, unclothe, uncover, undress, unsheathe, unveil