Dictionary

deplume en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /diːˈpluːm/

Etymology

From French déplumer, from Latin dēplūmō, from dē- + plūmō (“to cover with feathers”), from plūma (“feather”). Compare dēplūmis (“featherless”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To strip of feathers or plumage.
   • Before the birds are cut and quartered by the butchers they must be totally deplumed. 2012, Ócha'ni Lele, Sacrificial Ceremonies of Santería:
   • On the depluming of the pope every bird had his own feather. 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
2. (figuratively, transitive) To lay bare; to expose.
   • the exposure and depluming […] of the leading humbugs of the age c. 1841, Thomas De Quincey, Libellous Attacks...:
3. To condense excess water vapor from the flue gas.

Forms

Deriveds

deplumation

Synonyms

defeather