deplume

See also: déplumé and déplume

English

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

deplume (third-person singular simple present deplumes, present participle depluming, simple past and past participle deplumed)

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