Library / English Dictionary

DIVEST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove (someone's or one's own) clothes

Example:

He disinvested himself of his garments

Synonyms:

disinvest; divest; strip; undress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "divest" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Verb group:

discase; disrobe; peel; strip; strip down; uncase; unclothe; undress (get undressed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reduce or dispose of; cease to hold (an investment)

Example:

There was pressure on the university to disinvest in South Africa

Synonyms:

disinvest; divest

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "divest" is one way to...):

draw; draw off; take out; withdraw (remove (a commodity) from (a supply source))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

invest (make an investment)

Derivation:

divestiture (the sale by a company of a product line or a subsidiary or a division)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Take away possessions from someone

Example:

The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets

Synonyms:

deprive; divest; strip

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "divest" is one way to...):

take (take into one's possession)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divest"):

disarm; unarm (take away the weapons from; render harmless)

expropriate (deprive of possessions)

clean (deprive wholly of money in a gambling game, robbery, etc.)

dispossess (deprive of the possession of real estate)

clean out (deprive completely of money or goods)

unclothe (strip)

unsex (deprive of sex or sexual powers)

orphan (deprive of parents)

bereave (deprive through death)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody of something

Sentence example:

They divest him of all his money

Derivation:

divestiture (an order to an offending party to rid itself of property; it has the purpose of depriving the defendant of the gains of wrongful behavior)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Deprive of status or authority

Example:

They disinvested themselves of their rights

Synonyms:

disinvest; divest

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "divest" is one way to...):

discharge; free (free from obligations or duties)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divest"):

dethrone (remove a monarch from the throne)

defrock; unfrock (divest of the frock; of church officials)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody of something

Antonym:

invest (provide with power and authority)

Credits