divest

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}]
    

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]
    

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