spoliations

Noun

spoliation (countable and uncountable, plural spoliations)

1. (archaic, uncountable) The action of spoliating, or forcibly seizing property; pillage, plunder; also, the state of having property forcibly seized; (countable) an instance of this; a robbery, a seizure.
   • The weapons of the empire had been […] an unequalled genius for organization, and an uniform system of external law and order. This was generally a real boon to conquered nations, because it substituted a fixed and regular spoliation for the fortuitous and arbitrary miseries of savage warfare: […]1852 January – 1853 April, Charles Kingsley, Jun., “Preface”, in Hypatia: Or, New Foes with an Old Face. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page ix

   Synonyms:

   deprivation, despoliation, exspoliation, plundering, rapine, spoil

2. (broadly, uncountable) The action of destroying or ruining; destruction, ruin.
   • Marks of violence were visible in every part; a cupboard had been forced open, and the contents of a chest of drawers were scattered about the room. The shop bore even more evident signs of spoliation—that reckless wastefulness which seems the constant companion of cruelty; but little of the...[1832], L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Knife”, in Heath’s Book of Beauty. M.DCCC.XXXIII. […], London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, […] [for Charles Heath], →OCLC, page 121
3. (broadly, historical, uncountable) The action of an incumbent (“holder of an ecclesiastical benefice”) wrongfully depriving another of the emoluments of a benefice.
   • A Benefice is ſaid to be vacant de Facto, and not de Jure, vvhen the Poſſeſſion thereof is loſt by Spoliation or Intruſion, and the like: […]1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Ecclesiastical Benefices, the Division of Them, &c.”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the...
4. (broadly, countable, historical) A lawsuit brought or writ issued by an incumbent against another, claiming that the latter has wrongfully taken the emoluments of a benefice.
   • [W]here one ſaith to the Patron, that his Clerk is dead, whereupon he preſents another: there the firſt Incumbent, who was ſuppoſed to be dead, may have a Spoliation againſt the other.1667, [John Rastell], “Spoliation”, in [William Rastell], transl., Les Termes de la Ley: Or, Certain Difficult and Obscure Words and Terms of the Common Laws and Statutes of this Realm Now in Use...
5. (broadly, uncountable) The intentional destruction of, or tampering with, a document so as to impair its evidentiary value.
   • Plaintiff, a child injured during birth, alleges that defendant hospital intentionally destroyed evidence relevant to his malpractice action against the hospital. He seeks to bring a separate tort cause of action against defendant hospital for its alleged intentional spoliation—that is, intentional...1998 May 11, [Joyce Luther] Kennard, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California, “Cedars-Sinai Medical Center v. Superior Court (Bowyer)”, in Supreme Court of California Resources, Robert Crown...
6. (broadly, uncountable, international law) The systematic forcible seizure of property during a crisis or state of unrest such as that caused by war, now regarded as a crime; looting, pillage, plunder; (countable) an instance of this.
   • Spoliation of Jewish property by Nazi authorities occurred on a large scale during World War II.

See all 7 meanings of spoliation