Impoverishing

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impoverish \Im*pov"er*ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Impoverished};
     p. pr. & vb. n. {Impoverishing}.] [OF. empovrir; pref. em-
     (L. in) + povre poor, F. pauvre; cf. OF. apovrir, F.
     appauvrir, where the prefix is a-, L. ad. Cf. {Empoverish},
     and see {Poor}, and {-ish}.]
     1. To make poor; to reduce to poverty or indigence; as,


        misfortune and disease impoverish families.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To exhaust the strength, richness, or fertility of; to
        make sterile; as, to impoverish land.
        [1913 Webster]