as in to plunder
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence
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Examples of despoil in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
And on both flanks, the Trust set aside 33 low-lying acres that still contain the potential to despoil the whole place.
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Developing Governors Island, Curbed, 11 May 2023
Growth in Africa must be clean, both in terms of generating energy and not despoiling the continent’s landscape and natural resources.
—Jack A. Goldstone, Foreign Affairs, 18 May 2023
In stark contrast to the sensible environmental policies of his Republican predecessors, Watt’s policy enthusiasms included drilling, clear-cutting, despoiling public lands, and shredding environmental regulations.
—Liza Featherstone, The New Republic, 16 June 2023
This urge to despoil images of the unpopular goes a long way toward explaining why so many statues of Nero lost their heads, said Eric R. Varner, professor of classics and art history at Emory University.
—Graham Bowley, New York Times, 12 June 2023
See all Example Sentences for despoil 
Developing Governors Island, Curbed, 11 May 2023
Growth in Africa must be clean, both in terms of generating energy and not despoiling the continent’s landscape and natural resources.
—Jack A. Goldstone, Foreign Affairs, 18 May 2023
In stark contrast to the sensible environmental policies of his Republican predecessors, Watt’s policy enthusiasms included drilling, clear-cutting, despoiling public lands, and shredding environmental regulations.
—Liza Featherstone, The New Republic, 16 June 2023
This urge to despoil images of the unpopular goes a long way toward explaining why so many statues of Nero lost their heads, said Eric R. Varner, professor of classics and art history at Emory University.
—Graham Bowley, New York Times, 12 June 2023
See all Example Sentences for despoil
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despoil
Verb
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A week after Helene smashed into the Southeast, power outages, water shortages and impassable roads stymie recovery Tropical systems, of course, can plunder coastlines.Sharif Paget, CNN, 3 Oct. 2024
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And neither Coppola nor Snyder deals with how ideologues have plundered the West.Armond White, National Review, 9 Oct. 2024
Verb
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In the film, Diop, who is French and of Senegalese descent, follows the 2021 repatriation of 26 artifacts from the Musée du quai Branly back to their place of origin, Dahomey, once a kingdom in the modern-day West African nation of Benin, which France had pillaged in the 1890s.Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2024
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It has been pillaged, wounded, dragged into an aggressive war, and turned into a prison run by the most unscrupulous and deceitful scoundrels.Alexei Navalny, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024
Verb
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He was sacked twice to help the Titans kill drives, including taking a 19-yard loss on the Bears’ second series.Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2024
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Herbert was sacked six times in the first half, including three by the Browns’ menacing Myles Garrett.Elliott Teaford, Orange County Register, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Key Background Fear of unrest and looting in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere lingers after unrest was recorded following the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, including the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as well as the protests following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.Conor Murray, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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Some say that, in taking the material, the French looted something intangible: the Beninese people’s chance at seeing themselves in a larger historical context and not just through the gaze of white victimizers.Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
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“Despoil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoil. Accessed 9 Nov. 2024.
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