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
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
More than a dozen others immediately flooded the shattered entrance, pillaging the place — breaking display cases and grabbing thousands of dollars in jewelry.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The internet, too, has rewired our brains in countless ways, overwhelming us with information while pillaging our attention spans.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
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
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
Certainly, its portrait of a futuristic society dominated by raping, pillaging youth gangs speaking a bizarre Russian-English hybrid slang struck a few different nerves — as did its tale of one teenage sociopath’s questionable reprogramming back into society after a stint in prison.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
More than a dozen others immediately flooded the shattered entrance, pillaging the place — breaking display cases and grabbing thousands of dollars in jewelry.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The internet, too, has rewired our brains in countless ways, overwhelming us with information while pillaging our attention spans.
—Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 1 Dec. 2025
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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The Canadiens forfeit the game to the Detroit after a smoke bomb goes off in the Forum and crowds spill into the streets, setting fires, smashing windows and looting.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Christophe Garnier, the leader of Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan said the organization had to evacuate its staff from Akobo on Saturday and learned of the subsequent looting of its hospital and the ransacking of its office.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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So, the Board of Supervisors, through the County Executive Officer, has pirated the Treasurer’s office and is now plundering it.—
John Moorlach,
Oc Register,
2 Mar. 2026
-
If there really was a class of unaccountable, libertine global élites plundering the world, then wasn’t Trump obviously a member?—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Officers arrested Alexander Schecter, 26, at his Santa Monica residence on Friday and booked him on one count of rape by force, one count of forcible oral copulation, one count of robbery, one count of extortion and one count of battery, police said.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Mar. 2026
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He was booked on one count of rape by force, one count of forcible oral copulation, one count of robbery, one count of extortion and one count of battery and remains behind bars in lieu of $600,000 bail, police said.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Quick attacks down the flanks Parkinson’s preference for a three-man defence means his team often look wide to find marauding wing-backs high up the pitch.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Ozzy Lusth is marauding through the jungle, Sandra Diaz-Twine is lunging out of a shelter, and Johnny Fairplay’s real grandmother fake dies.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The confrontation went viral in December 2024, as cameras captured Gastineau confronting Favre in 2023 over Michael Strahan sacking the Green Bay Packers legend to break Gastineau's single-season sack record.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
17 Mar. 2026
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So Green can go back to sad-sacking and triple-singling starting Saturday against the Thunder, and certainly Monday against the Jazz.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In October 2024, 20 mountain lions were killed through depredation permits statewide, the DFW reported.—
Steve Scauzillo,
Daily News,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Wolf depredation in Cochise County last summer resulted in the relocation of a pack from southern Arizona to captivity in New Mexico.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The new administration accuses the Gainey administration of raiding city trust funds to pay for some programs and departments while underfunding others.—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
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That’s a different kind of story than raiding a floating restaurant or escaping a marine base.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The militia had first interrogated the Delaware and Mohican about the location of their material possessions before killing them to ensure a successful plunder of pewter, tea sets, furs, and clothing.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
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The country had yet to hold the first Marcos to account for plunder and human-rights abuses, and this election seemed an exoneration of both his and Rodrigo Duterte’s sins.—
Sheila Coronel,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pillaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pillaging. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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