as in looting
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as in plundering
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
soldiers pillaging the countryside for anything of value
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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
Noun
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
Verb
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
Noun
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According to food-security experts, extreme malnutrition in Gaza, already high, skyrocketed after GHF took over; according to Netanyahu, the foundation failed to prevent looting by Hamas.—
Hana Kiros,
The Atlantic,
27 Oct. 2025
-
The falls could become a place of learning, not of looting, as park manager Troy McCormick put it in 1994.—
Leo Bertucci,
Louisville Courier Journal,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Leaders in Congress agreed and sent out armadas of patriot privateers to do just that, plundering British shipping around the Atlantic rim and forcing Royal Navy warships to redeploy to convoy duty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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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
Noun
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Elk Grove detectives spotted the nine later identified as the team behind the two robberies in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center near Cosumnes River College just inside the Sacramento city limits.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
7 Nov. 2025
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The report, completed before the spectacular robbery, covered management of the Louvre from 2018 to 2024.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
7 Nov. 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
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Great Britain continues to mourn MP Jo Cox, stabbed and shot to death last Thursday on the first anniversary of white supremacist Dylann Roof’s marauding at the Emanuel Church in Charleston.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 June 2016
Verb
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If Haaland isn’t my choice here, there should be serious consideration at The Athletic about sacking me.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
-
The defensive line took advantage of a weak Auburn O-line, sacking Arnold five times.—
Maddie Hartley,
Kansas City Star,
19 Oct. 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
Verb
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In Dreams, Franco recalls a resourceful Chastain raiding her closet at home for luxury costumes to play a wealthy socialite on set.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Oct. 2025
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Good taste must be genetic, because these celebrity daughters can't stop raiding their stylish moms' closets.—
Alex Apatoff,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 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 12 Nov. 2025.
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