Definition: divest

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

divest
     v 1: take away possessions from someone; "The Nazis stripped the
          Jews of all their assets" [syn: deprive, strip]
     2: deprive of status or authority [ant: invest]
     3: take away one's investment [ant: invest]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Divest \Di*vest"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Divested; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Divesting.] [LL. divestire (di- = dis- + L. vestire to
   dress), equiv. to L. devestire. It is the same word as
   devest, but the latter is rarely used except as a technical
   term in law. See Devest, Vest.]
   1. To unclothe; to strip, as of clothes, arms, or equipage;
      -- opposed to invest.

   2. Fig.: To strip; to deprive; to dispossess; as, to divest
      one of his rights or privileges; to divest one's self of
      prejudices, passions, etc.

            Wretches divested of every moral feeling.
                                                  --Goldsmith.

            The tendency of the language to divest itself of its
            gutturals.                            --Earle.

   3. (Law) See Devest. --Mozley & W.