Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
1.
to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce.
2.
to corrupt or pervert; sully: His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money.
3.
Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty.
verb (used without object)
4.
to indulge in debauchery.
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Debauch
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
noun
5.
a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence.
6.
an uninhibited spree or party; orgy: a wild debauch.
Origin:
1585–95; < French débaucher to entice away from duty, debauch, Old French desbauchier to disperse, scatter, equivalent to des- dis-1 + -bauchier, derivative of bauc, bauch beam (< Germanic; see balcony, balk; compare French ébaucher to rough-hew); hence, presumably, to hew (beams) > to split, separate > to separate from work or duty
1585–95; < French débaucher to entice away from duty, debauch, Old French desbauchier to disperse, scatter, equivalent to des- dis-1 + -bauchier, derivative of bauc, bauch beam (< Germanic; see balcony, balk; compare French ébaucher to rough-hew); hence, presumably, to hew (beams) > to split, separate > to separate from work or duty
Related forms
de·bauch·er, noun
de·bauch·ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To debauch
Example Sentences
- The affair was the culmination of a long debauch coupled with jealousy.
- Printing money would worsen inflation, debauch the currency and bring a balance-of-payments crisis.
- Those that debauch the currency dilute the lifeblood of the economy until it dies of suffocation.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
debauch
1590s, from M.Fr. debaucher "entice from work or duty," from O.Fr. desbaucher "to lead astray," supposedly lit. "to trim (wood) to make a beam" (from bauch "beam," from Frankish balk; from the same Gmc. source that yielded English balk, q.v.). A sense of "shaving" something
EXPANDaway, perhaps, but the root is also said to be a word meaning "workshop," which gets toward the notion of "to lure someone off the job;" either way the sense evolution is unclear
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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