[syn: strip, undress, divest, disinvest]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Wretches divested of every moral feeling.
--Goldsmith.
[1913 Webster]
The tendency of the language to divest itself of its
gutturals. --Earle.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) See Devest. --Mozley & W.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
divest
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
62 Moby Thesaurus words for "divest":
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