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Definition of impoverish verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

impoverish

verb
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃ/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃ/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they impoverish
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃ/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃ/
he / she / it impoverishes
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃɪz/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃɪz/
past simple impoverished
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃt/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃt/
past participle impoverished
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃt/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃt/
-ing form impoverishing
 
/ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃɪŋ/
 
/ɪmˈpɑːvərɪʃɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. impoverish somebody to make somebody poor
    • These changes are likely to impoverish single-parent families even further.
    Topics Social issuesc2
  2. impoverish something to make something worse in quality
    • Intensive cultivation has impoverished the soil.
  3. Word Originlate Middle English (formerly also as empoverish): from Old French empoveriss-, lengthened stem of empoverir, based on povre ‘poor’.
See impoverish in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
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