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| im·pov·er·ish [ im póvvərish ] (past and past participle im·pov·er·ished, present participle im·pov·er·ish·ing, 3rd person present singular im·pov·er·ish·es) |
transitive verb |
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| Definition: |
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1. make somebody or something poor: to cause somebody or something to be poor or poorer
(
often passive
)
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2. spoil or reduce something in quality: to take away some part or quality belonging to something, leaving it in a worse or weaker condition than before
  a vocabulary impoverished by technical jargon
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3. deprive something of nutrients: to take away the nutrients and richness from a substance such as soil
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| [15th century. < Old French empoveriss-, stem of empov(e)rier< povre (see poor)] |
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| im·pov·er·ish·er noun |
| im·pov·er·ish·ment noun |
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