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Despoil vs Ruin - What's the difference?

despoil | ruin | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between despoil and ruin

is that despoil is to violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob while ruin is to cause the ruin of.

In obsolete terms the difference between despoil and ruin

is that despoil is plunder; spoliation while ruin is a fall or tumble.

despoil

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To deprive for spoil; to take spoil from; to plunder; to rob; to pillage.
  • *Macaulay
  • *:a law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled
  • *2010 , The Economist , 17 July, p.53:
  • *:To dreamers in the West, Tibet is a Shangri-La despoiled by Chinese ruthlessness and rapacity.
  • To violently strip (someone), with indirect object of their possessions etc.; to rob.
  • *1614 , (Sir Walter Raleigh), History of the World :
  • *:The Earl of March, following the plain path which his father had trodden out, despoiled Henry the father, and Edward the son, both of their lives and kingdom.
  • *1667 , (John Milton), Paradise Lost , Book 9, 410-11:
  • *:To intercept thy way, or send thee back / Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss.
  • *1849 , , History of England , Ch.20:
  • *:A law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled .
  • To strip (someone) of their clothes; to undress.
  • *:
  • *:So syr Persants doughter dyd as her fader bad her / and soo she wente vnto syr Beaumayns bed / & pryuely she dispoylled her / & leid her doune by hym / & thenne he awoke & sawe her & asked her what she was
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) Plunder; spoliation.
  • References

    * *

    Anagrams

    * * * * *

    ruin

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
  • *:The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin' cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ' ruins lay.
  • *(Joseph Stevens Buckminster) (1751-1812)
  • *:The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.}}
  • (lb) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
  • :
  • (lb) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
  • :
  • *(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • *:The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
  • *
  • *:The Bat—they called him the Bat.. Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin —but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.
  • (lb) A fall or tumble.
  • *(George Chapman) (1559-1634)
  • *:His ruin startled the other steeds.
  • A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
  • :
  • *(Thomas Gray) (1716-1771)
  • *:Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • to cause the ruin of.
  • * 1883 ,
  • In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he kept on staying week after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long exhausted...
  • To destroy or make something no longer usable.
  • He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
  • * Longfellow
  • By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeling ruined cities in the ashes.
  • To upset or mess up the plans or progress of, or to put into disarray; to spoil.
  • My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.

    Synonyms

    * destroy * fordo * ruinate * wreck

    Antonyms

    * build * construct * found * produce