as in plundering
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
soldiers pillaging the countryside for anything of value
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in looting
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pillaging
Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Alan Bradley, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
Amid the pillaging of homes, Roman magistrates were likely sent to the city to prevent an anarchic type of existence, based on ancient literary sources the authors referenced in the study.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Noun
If peaceable trading isn't your dream, consider the corsair life, pillaging other ships for their precious cargo.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pillaging
Verb
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While plundering a dungeon lair and stealing artifacts from a museum both have heist elements to them, Skullduggery looks into the other intrigues of adventures in urban environments.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The store released a black-and-white video showing the thieves, which appears to be at least four suspects, plundering the business.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Casualties among Gaza’s police force during the two-year conflict have contributed to a deterioration in security, with looting of aid becoming commonplace.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
12 Oct. 2025
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Character progression is primarily handled through a persistent skill tree, crafting, and looting.—
Gabriel Zamora,
PC Magazine,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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They were ambushed, and Pauline was killed by stray gunfire from marauding mobsters hell-bent on killing Buford.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
The Tennessean,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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She was nonetheless convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison, though her sentence was later commuted by President Jimmy Carter and she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Alfie’s memory of taking ‘a bullet during a Mexican bank robbery’ feels less vibrant than my memory of dinner at the Olive Garden.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But after sacking Russell Martin, Rangers’ decision-makers have found the gig has all the magnetism of aluminium.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Mason Taylor before anybody else moved on the Jets’ final offensive snap of the day, and buried any chance of catastrophe by sacking Justin Fields with some help from his friends, the fiercest pass-rush in the NFL.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While many consider the mammal a nuisance for raiding garbage cans and damaging property, raccoons can also carry diseases, and they probably shouldn't be kept as housepets.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
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Taco Bell is raiding its vault and bringing fans along for the re-exploration.—
Sonal Dutt,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Federal wildlife agents confirmed the two depredation events, which took place Friday and Saturday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
1 Oct. 2025
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Despite years of sitting on the sidelines, the United States has an opportunity to reassert itself in seeking to end the depredations of the junta and advance the cause of democracy in Myanmar.—
Dan Swift,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As an alliance grew between senators and financial powers, public figures began profiting from real-estate speculation, slave trading, and overseas plunder—while masking their involvement.—
Zephyr Teachout,
The Atlantic,
22 Sep. 2025
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Reparations, long proposed as the only measure proportionate to the scale of racial plunder, look increasingly like a political, economic, and legal non-starter.—
Idrees Kahloon,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pillaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pillaging. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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