Meanings
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1
verb
to deprive a person or community of land, a home, or other property, especially by force or legal action
The decree threatened to dispossess hundreds of families from their farms.
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2
verb
to deprive someone of the possession or control of something more generally
His rivals tried to dispossess him of the authority he had inherited.
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3
verb
in sport, to take the ball or puck away from an opponent
The defender dispossessed the striker just outside the penalty area.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Old French despossesser ("to put out of possession"), built from des- (a privative prefix) + possesser ("to possess"). English later regularized the prefix to dis-. Possess ultimately comes from Latin possidere ("to have and hold"), originally a legal term associated with property.