as in plundering
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
soldiers pillaging the countryside for anything of value
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as in looting
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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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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
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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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The antifa movement was often blamed by police for the violence and looting that occurred in the aftermath of the murder.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
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Sewer workers discovered a 2,300-year-old tomb containing ceramic artifacts and showing signs of ancient looting.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
16 Sep. 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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Thompson was arrested as a high school senior in 1955 and charged as an accessory to a robbery in Cherokee Park.—
Lillian Metzmeier,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
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In what is otherwise a slog of a show, Black Rabbit gets structurally creative in the sixth episode when the events of a robbery at the restaurant are shown from different perspectives.—
Andrew Bernard,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But Williams sealed the Pats’ only win of the season thus far, sacking Tua Tagovailoa on the Dolphins’ final offensive snap with less than two minutes left in Week 2.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
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The Giants largely held Jayden Daniels in check, particularly after halftime, while sacking him 3 times.—
Howard Megdal,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 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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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
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Four people were arrested, and three were charged felony offenses of assaulting a federal officer, while the fourth was charged with misdemeanor offense of depredation of government property, according to a Department of Justice press release.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 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 8 Oct. 2025.
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