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Definition of "divest" []

  • To strip, as of clothes. (verb-transitive)
  • To deprive, as of rights or property; dispossess. (verb-transitive)
  • To free of; rid: "Most secretive of men, let him at last divest himself of secrets, both his and ours” ( Brendan Gill). (verb-transitive)
  • To sell off or otherwise dispose of (a subsidiary company or an investment). (verb-transitive)
  • Law To devest. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "divest" in a sentence
  • "SEOUL — Korea Exchange Bank said Friday Chairman Richard Wacker will step down from his post due to personal reasons amid efforts by majority stakeholder Lone Star Funds to divest from the bank."
  • "The resolution, which will be voted on at a later date, requests that the city government and employee pension fund "divest" from all Arizona state and municipal bonds and would ban city workers from traveling to that state on official business."
  • "The final language of the resolution still must be fine-tuned, but a draft circulated Tuesday by Hispanic activists calls on both the city government and the employee pension fund to "divest" from "any companies that originate out of Arizona or that do business with Arizona.""