Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To strip of priestly privileges and functions.
- transitive verb To deprive of the right to practice a profession.
- transitive verb To deprive of an honorary position.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Same as
unfrock .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To divest of the frock, i. e. to deprive (a priest, minister, etc.) of official ecclesiastical authority; -- of church officials.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb literally to
divest of afrock - verb figuratively to formally remove the rights and authority of a member of the
clergy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb divest of the frock; of church officials
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A senior Catholic Church official has threatened controversy by saying that it would be safer not to "defrock" priests who had been convicted of sexually abusing children.
A Tangled Web David Vance 2010
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A senior Catholic Church official has threatened controversy by saying that it would be safer not to "defrock" priests who had been convicted of sexually abusing children.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
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I hereby defrock the FF and restore the title to the Frua-bodied 1952 Ferrari 212.
A Showroom of Regrets: What I Got Wrong in 2011 Dan Neil 2011
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Roy Bourgeois made the front page of this past Saturday's New York Times, and I was glad for the good news at hand: 157 priests signed a statement in support of Father Roy Bourgeois, whom the Vatican has begun to defrock.
Michele Somerville: A Frock Does Not A Priest Make Michele Somerville 2011
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The NYT had a story the other day about a priest accused of sexually molesting teenage girls here in the US who returned to his native India where the local bishop declined to defrock him.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Remarkable Window into Amnesty International’s Worldview 2010
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He added: Compare how long it takes to defrock paedophile priests with how secular organisations work.
Pope's UK visit prompts increase in sex abuse allegations against church 2011
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The Vatican began its crusade to defrock Father Bourgeois in November of 2008 with the threat of excommunication.
Michele Somerville: A Frock Does Not A Priest Make Michele Somerville 2011
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If they defrock him, they set him on a path to official or unofficial sainthood.
Michele Somerville: Roy Bourgeois Detained At The Vatican For The Crime Of Primacy Of Conscience Michele Somerville 2011
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Years of correspondence between Father Ronan's superiors discussing his alleged abuse of minors in Ireland were first sent as attachments to the Vatican in February 1966, Mr. Lena said, as part of a request from his religious order to defrock Father Ronan—a request that was granted weeks later.
Vatican Releases Files in Bid to Rebut Claims of Coverup Stacy Meichtry 2011
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The church on Wednesday presented its highest-level official response yet to one of the most explosive recent revelations regarding sex abuse — a story the Times broke on the church's decision in the 1990s not to defrock a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting deaf boys.
Holy Thursday: Pope washes feet, Vatican slams media amid scandal 2010
hernesheir commented on the word defrock
(v): Literally, to remove the frock or vestments of church officials, and thus their authority.
December 30, 2008