Divest
Contents
English
Verb
Divest (third-person singular simple present Divests, present participle Divesting, simple past and past participle Divested)
- (transitive, archaic) To undress, disrobe.
- 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
- Having divested the child he kissed her gently and gave her a little pat to make her stand off.
- 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
- (transitive) To strip, deprive, or dispossess (someone) of something (such as a right, passion, privilege, or prejudice).
- You shall never divest me of my right to free speech.
- When I wake up, I make a point to divest myself of all my prejudices, ready to start the day.
- (transitive) To sell off or be rid of through sale, especially of a subsidiary
- In 2011 the company divested an 81% majority stake in its Chinese subsidiary.
Synonyms for Divest
disrobe, denude, unclothe, peel, uncover, deprive, bare, strip, undress.
Antonyms for Divest
clothe, dress, invest, cover, restore (property).
Related terms
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
Etymology
Alteration of devest, after Latin divestire.
