deport

verb

de·​port di-ˈpȯrt 

dē-

deported; deporting; deports

transitive verb

1

[Latin deportare]

a

: to send out of the country by legal deportation

b

: to carry away

2

: to behave or comport (oneself) especially in accord with a code

Synonyms

• banish
• displace
• exile
• expatriate
• relegate
• transport

Choose the Right Synonym for deport

banish, exile, deport, transport mean to remove by authority from a state or country.

banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own.

banished for seditious activities

exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country.

a writer who exiled himself for political reasons

deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare.

illegal aliens will be deported

transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony.

a convict who was transported to Australia

behave, conduct, deport, comport, acquit mean to act or to cause oneself to do something in a certain way.

behave may apply to the meeting of a standard of what is proper or decorous.

the children behaved in church

conduct implies action or behavior that shows the extent of one's power to control or direct oneself.

conducted herself with unfailing good humor

deport implies behaving so as to show how far one conforms to conventional rules of discipline or propriety.

the hero deported himself in accord with the code of chivalry

comport suggests conduct measured by what is expected or required of one in a certain class or position.

comported themselves as gentlemen

acquit applies to action under stress that deserves praise or meets expectations.

acquitted herself well in her first assignment

Examples of deport in a Sentence

Thousands of immigrants had been illegally deported.

deported them back to their country of birth

Recent Examples on the Web

Its gangs, which were founded by men deported from the United States, grew to an army of at least 60,000, with branches as far away as the suburbs of Washington, D.C. —Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2023

García said Zavala Lopez was a Mexican national living in the country illegally and had been deported several times from both California and Texas. —Michael Williams, Dallas News, 18 Sep. 2023

The Ukrainian government now says Russians have deported or forcibly relocated more than 19,500 Ukrainian children since the war began. —Britt Clennett, ABC News, 6 Sep. 2023

In 2009, Cambodia deported 20 Uyghur asylum-seekers to China. —Tiffany May, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Aug. 2023

Even those refugees face a future of uncertainty, many still waiting to be admitted to the US and other Western nations, while some have been waiting so long they were forcibly deported back to Afghanistan and had to go into hiding. —Jessie Yeung, CNN, 15 Aug. 2023

Abinader has in recent months deported thousands of Haitians, including hundreds of pregnant women and unaccompanied minors, in apparent violation of international conventions and bilateral agreements. —Widlore Mérancourt, BostonGlobe.com, 15 Sep. 2023

Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia under Stalin in 1944 and allowed to return only many decades later. —Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2023

The escapee’s sister, Eleni Cavalcante, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is now in the process of being deported after failing to cooperate with the investigation, Bivens said. —Danny Freeman, CNN, 13 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle French deporter, from Latin deportare to carry away, from de- + portare to carry — more at fare

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

deport

verb

de·​port di-ˈpō(ə)rt 

-ˈpȯ(ə)rt

1

: to cause (oneself) to act in a certain way : conduct

deported themselves well in public

2

: to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country

deportation

ˌdē-ˌpōr-ˈtā-shən

-ˌpȯr-

noun

deportee

ˌdē-ˌpōr-ˈtē

-ˌpȯr-

noun

Legal Definition

deport

transitive verb

de·​port di-ˈpōrt 

: to send (an alien) out of a country by order of deportation compare exclude

deportable adjective