defile

A soldier who requested anonymity explained to AFP that since then the body had been guarded around the clock "so that rival groups do not defile him."

From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026

Some Parisians backed the move, but others - including heritage campaigners - said it was a bad idea and would "defile" the French capital's iconic monument.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024

“We can’t just take, defile and desecrate someone’s body without consent,” Numa says.

From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2024

“To defile the public debate with disinformation, lies, hatred and conspiracy theories is undemocratic conduct,” Luís Roberto Barroso, a Supreme Court justice and the head of Brazil’s electoral tribunal said in a recent speech.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2021

A fierce man had burst into the room and shouted, How dare you defile this house?

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

"It is time to realize that fundamentalism defiles and corrupts every creed," he said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2022

In the name of personalization, she says, “it defiles, ignores, overrides and displaces everything about you and me that is personal.”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2019

If Wood defiles this terrain, he does so by not describing it as vibrantly as you might hope.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2016

There is a fine line between reflecting the concerns of voters and performing a crude and offensive imitation that mocks and defiles their deepest beliefs.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2015

As the day wore on, Melyngar led them swiftly through rocky defiles to high ridges.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

The writer Octavio Paz, the Mexican Nobel laureate, denounced Malinche as a kind of malevolent Eve whose submission to Cortés forever defiled Mexico’s mixed identity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026

In his resignation letter, he said the CCC had been "defiled", accusing the ruling Zanu-PF party of being behind the move - allegations it denied.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2024

The Seleucids captured the holy Temple of Jerusalem and defiled it by erecting an altar to the Greek god Zeus inside.

From National Geographic ● Dec. 7, 2023

Here was a natural wonder on par with the Grand Canyon, defiled by capitalism.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2020

Theseus, the thinker, rejected the idea that a man could be guilty of murder when he had not known what he was doing and that those who helped such a one could be reckoned defiled.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

That meant a lot to all of us in this community who were dismayed to see hateful messages defiling a shared space where our kids play.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2022

The song's title is a reference to the Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with "Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class".

From BBC ● May 30, 2022

"I don't want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was OK. I don't want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future," he told CBS.

From Reuters ● Jan. 31, 2022

"Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money of the production of the things that are defiling the environment," the actor said in his welcome speech.

From Fox News ● Jun. 1, 2021

We are all our beautiful bodies and so must never be prostrate before barbarians, must never submit our original self, our one of one, to defiling and plunder.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates