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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pillaging
Verb
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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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That incident unleashed rioting and looting, with the homes of political leaders—including that of the finance minister—attacked and government offices burned.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
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Local media reported isolated looting in Jakarta and damage to several transportation facilities in Jakarta on Friday, as well as demonstrations in the major cities of Bandung and Yogyakarta.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
30 Aug. 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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One of Al Pacino’s finest performances of the 1970s — which, with the Godfather films and Serpico, is an absurd hot hand — is as the enigmatic, wild-eyed Sonny, a man who performs a desperate bank robbery with his partner (the late John Cazale, by turns heartbreakingly clueless and dopily funny).—
Christina Newland,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
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Told from the point of view of Ruffalo's lawman and the everyman (Tom Pelphry) who is surprisingly leading the robberies, the drama is seriously dark but also thoughtful and addictive.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In the 2024-25 NBA season, Josh, who serves as the Denver Nuggets’ CEO and team president, was instrumental in sacking head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.—
Dan Sheldon,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
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The results also come on the heels of Qantas recently being hit with a record A$90 million penalty for illegally sacking 1,800 ground staff.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Simpson goes away to college, in Chicago, though not without her mother raiding her personal loan.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
3 Sep. 2025
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Almost half of America's youngest workers are raiding their retirement accounts just to get by, a new report has found.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The pack consists of up to 15 wolves of various ages roaming federal public land near an active cattle grazing allotment, where many of the depredation incidents took place, according the memo.—
John Leos,
AZCentral.com,
24 Aug. 2025
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Researchers looked at wolf abundance, the number killed in wolf hunting and by government removals, and livestock depredation in those states from 2005 to 2001, and found that the amount of livestock saved by killing a single wolf, roughly equaled 7% of a single cow.—
Nathan Rott,
NPR,
21 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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Well, there’s this band of down-on-their-luck pirates, see, drawn to the scent of plunder and rousing dance numbers, coming together in another Citadel outdoor summer extravaganza full of music and fun for the whole family, according to the Citadel website.—
Gina Grillo,
Chicago Tribune,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pillaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pillaging. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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