noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
General-American:/dɪˈvɛstɪt͡ʃɚ/
General-American:/daɪ-/
General-American:/-tə-/
General-American:/-t͡ʃʊɹ/
General-American:/-tjʊɹ/
Received-Pronunciation:/daɪˈvɛstɪt͡ʃə/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Northeastern, US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:D IH0 V EH1 S T IH0 CH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:D AY0 V EH1 S T IH0 CH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act of selling something off, especially an investment or a business.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The process of stripping away an individual's confidence, values and attitudes in order to indoctrinate the individual into an organization.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the sale by a company of a product line or a subsidiary or a division
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sale
4
noun
Meaning 4
an order to an offending party to rid itself of property; it has the purpose of depriving the defendant of the gains of wrongful behavior
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the court found divestiture to be necessary in preventing a monopoly