only 1 use
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Definition
to spoil the beauty or purity of something
in various senses, including:
- pollute a pristine lake
- harm a reputation or good name
- damage or disrespect something sacred
- take a person's virginity in a disrespectful way
- I only desired he would lend me two clean shirts, which, having been washed since he wore them, I believed would not so much defile me.Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (89% in)
There are no more uses of "defile" in Gulliver's Travels.
Typical Usage
(best examples)