The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Desecrate \Des"e*crate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desecrated; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Desecrating.] [L. desecratus, p. p. of
   desecrare (also desacrare) to consecrate, dedicate; but taken
   in the sense if to divest of a sacred character; de- +
   sacrare to consecrate, fr. sacer sacred. See Sacred.]
   To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a
   sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to
   put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate.
   [1913 Webster]

         The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment
         without being previously desecrated.     --W. Tooke.
   [1913 Webster]

         The founders of monasteries imprecated evil on those
         who should desecrate their donations.    --Salmon.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

desecrate
    v 1: violate the sacred character of a place or language;
         "desecrate a cemetery"; "violate the sanctity of the
         church"; "profane the name of God" [syn: desecrate,
         profane, outrage, violate]
    2: remove the consecration from a person or an object [syn:
       desecrate, unhallow, deconsecrate] [ant: bless,
       consecrate, hallow, sanctify]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

60 Moby Thesaurus words for "desecrate":
   abuse, adulterate, alloy, befoul, canker, cheapen, coarsen,
   commit sacrilege, confound, contaminate, convert, corrupt, debase,
   debauch, defalcate, defile, deflower, degenerate, degrade,
   denature, deprave, depredate, desolate, despoil, devalue,
   devastate, devour, dishonor, distort, divert, embezzle, foul,
   infect, maladminister, misapply, misappropriate, misemploy,
   mishandle, mismanage, misuse, peculate, pervert, pilfer, pillage,
   poison, pollute, profane, prostitute, ravage, ravish, sack,
   spoliate, taint, twist, ulcerate, violate, vitiate, vulgarize,
   warp, waste