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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Despoil \De*spoil"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Despoiled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Despoiling}.] [OF. despoiller, F. d['e]pouiller, L. despoliare, despoliatum; de- + spoliare to strip, rob, spolium spoil, booty. Cf. {Spoil}, {Despoliation}.]
1. To strip, as of clothing; to divest or unclothe. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
2. To deprive for spoil; to plunder; to rob; to pillage; to strip; to divest; -- usually followed by of.
The clothed earth is then bare, Despoiled is the summer fair. --Gower.
A law which restored to them an immense domain of which they had been despoiled. --Macaulay.
Despoiled of innocence, of faith, of bliss. --Milton.
Syn: To strip; deprive; rob; bereave; rifle.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
despoil \de*spoil"\, noun Spoil. [Obs.] --Wolsey.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
despoil
verb
1: steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners" [syn: {plunder}, {loot}, {reave}, {strip}, {rifle}, {ransack}, {pillage}, {foray}]
2: destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country" [syn: {rape}, {spoil}, {violate}, {plunder}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
159 Moby Thesaurus words for "despoil": abuse, adulterate, afflict, aggrieve, alloy, befoul, betray, bewitch, bleed, bleed white, blight, bring to ruin, canker, cheapen, coarsen, condemn, confound, consume, contaminate, corrupt, crucify, curse, damage, damn, deal destruction, debase, debauch, deceive, decimate, defile, deflower, degenerate, degrade, denature, denude, deplume, deprave, depredate, desecrate, desolate, destroy, devalue, devastate, devour, disadvantage, displume, disserve, dissolve, distort, distress, divest, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, drain, dry, engorge, envenom, exhaust, flay, fleece, forage, foray, force, freeboot, get into trouble, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, harass, harm, havoc, hex, hurt, impair, impoverish, incinerate, infect, injure, jinx, lay in ruins, lay waste, lead astray, loot, maltreat, maraud, menace, milk, mislead, mistreat, misuse, molest, outrage, persecute, pervert, pick clean, pillage, play havoc with, play hob with, pluck, plunder, poison, pollute, prejudice, prey on, prostitute, raid, ransack, rape, ravage, raven, ravish, reive, rifle, ruin, ruinate, sack, savage, scathe, seduce, shear, shipwreck, skin, soil, spoil, spoliate, strip, strip bare, suck dry, sully, swallow up, sweep, taint, threaten, throw into disorder, torment, torture, twist, ulcerate, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, upheave, vandalize, vaporize, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, waste, wound, wrack, wreak havoc, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong
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