dispossess
verb
dis·pos·sess
ˌdis-pə-ˈzes 
also -ˈses
dispossessed; dispossessing; dispossesses
: to put out of possession or occupancy
dispossessed the nobles of their land
Examples of dispossess in a Sentence
The land was settled by dispossessing the native people who lived here.
opponents of gentrification claim that the process unfairly dispossesses poorer residents of their long-established homes
Recent Examples on the Web
The legislature’s action represents a milestone for the budding national movement to seek compensation for families dispossessed by university expansion.
—
Brandi Kellam, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2024
Many families in the camps, refugees displaced and dispossessed by the 1948 or 1967 wars, are mired in multigenerational poverty.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024
Al-Arkan is among the people who are dispossessed, packing up his belongings for the third time during this conflict, zig-zagging a slice of land just twice the size of Washington, D.C.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 14 Feb. 2024
Europeans introduced horses and large attack dogs to the Americas, as well as cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens that were cultivated in large-scale livestock husbandry, which dispossessed the indigenous of their lands.
—Marcy Norton, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The Palestinian national struggle has become the cause of the justice-seeking dispossessed throughout the world.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2023
Under the volcano: How Guatemala's Indigenous communities have been displaced and dispossessed
Indigenous people make up nearly half the population of this Tennessee-sized nation.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2023
But the rural Americans with the deepest roots, the Native ones, were very often violently dispossessed.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
To dispossess people of their land, seize it for themselves, administer the transfer of treasure and labor across borders, brutally suppress movements for self-government, and feed media with one-sided narratives—all of those and more were the hallmarks of an empire coming into view.
—Beth Py-Lieberman, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023
Brandi Kellam, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2024
Many families in the camps, refugees displaced and dispossessed by the 1948 or 1967 wars, are mired in multigenerational poverty.
—Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Mar. 2024
Al-Arkan is among the people who are dispossessed, packing up his belongings for the third time during this conflict, zig-zagging a slice of land just twice the size of Washington, D.C.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 14 Feb. 2024
Europeans introduced horses and large attack dogs to the Americas, as well as cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens that were cultivated in large-scale livestock husbandry, which dispossessed the indigenous of their lands.
—Marcy Norton, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
The Palestinian national struggle has become the cause of the justice-seeking dispossessed throughout the world.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2023
Under the volcano: How Guatemala's Indigenous communities have been displaced and dispossessed
Indigenous people make up nearly half the population of this Tennessee-sized nation.
—Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2023
But the rural Americans with the deepest roots, the Native ones, were very often violently dispossessed.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
To dispossess people of their land, seize it for themselves, administer the transfer of treasure and labor across borders, brutally suppress movements for self-government, and feed media with one-sided narratives—all of those and more were the hallmarks of an empire coming into view.
—Beth Py-Lieberman, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dispossess.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dispossess
Cite this Entry
“Dispossess.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dispossess. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dispossess
verb
dis·pos·sess
ˌdis-pə-ˈzes
: to take away the possession of or the right to occupy land or houses
Legal Definition
dispossess
transitive verb
dis·pos·sess
ˌdis-pə-ˈzes
: to put out of possession or occupancy compare evict
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