1
as in violation
the act of forcing a person to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse
an international law defining rape as a war crime
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2
as in kidnapping
the unlawful or forcible carrying away of a person or animal
the legend of the rape of the Sabine women by the ancient Romans was frequently depicted in classical art
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of rape
Amy Wallace, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
Its hive mind could think out loud, surfacing, organizing, and analyzing vast quantities of information in real time, as in the Steubenville rape case in 2012, or the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in 2014.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2026
Moroccan soccer player Achraf Hakimi is to face a rape trial, the defender, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and the Moroccan national squad, said in a social media post on Tuesday.
—Reuters, NBC news, 24 Feb. 2026
And her adult son is on trial on rape charges.
—semafor.com, 23 Feb. 2026
In December 2024, Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum for rape in France.
—Gaby Wood, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2026
Lupel continued working to get Dotson’s rape conviction overturned until withdrawing as his attorney in 1986.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
The film is work of autobiographical fiction from de Araújo about an 8-year-old — played by newcomer Mason Reeves — who witnesses a rape in Golden Gate Park.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 20 Feb. 2026
Brashers, who died by suicide during the 1999 Missouri standoff, had already been linked through DNA evidence to the 1990 strangulation of a woman in South Carolina, the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee and the 1998 fatal shootings of a mother and daughter in Missouri.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Investigators said she had been raped and murdered a few hours before and evidence showed that she had been killed somewhere else and her body was moved to the school.
—Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 23 Feb. 2026
She had been dragged down an alley to a secluded area near an apartment building and behind a fence, where she was raped and strangled, according to authorities.
—Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN Money, 21 Feb. 2026
Then Perret showed her three photographs of an unresponsive woman being raped by three different men.
—Gaby Wood, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2026
At any moment, we could be corralled in a mass detention sweep, bound and raped and maced and mauled for committing the crime of simply existing on our land.
—Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Sarah Geer, 13, was raped and strangled to death in May 1982.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
To sum up the series finale’s key moments, in the college timeline, Bree (Cat Missal), in a rage of anger after finding out that Lucy (Grace Van Patten) was the person Evan (Branden Cook) had cheated with, releases the tape of Lucy admitting to lying about being raped.
—Emily Longeretta, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Now Americans are demanding that those who joined Epstein in raping children and abusing women must face justice.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
Noun
And this abuse often escalated into rape.
—Amy Wallace, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
Its hive mind could think out loud, surfacing, organizing, and analyzing vast quantities of information in real time, as in the Steubenville rape case in 2012, or the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in 2014.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2026
Moroccan soccer player Achraf Hakimi is to face a rape trial, the defender, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and the Moroccan national squad, said in a social media post on Tuesday.
—Reuters, NBC news, 24 Feb. 2026
And her adult son is on trial on rape charges.
—semafor.com, 23 Feb. 2026
In December 2024, Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum for rape in France.
—Gaby Wood, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2026
Lupel continued working to get Dotson’s rape conviction overturned until withdrawing as his attorney in 1986.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
The film is work of autobiographical fiction from de Araújo about an 8-year-old — played by newcomer Mason Reeves — who witnesses a rape in Golden Gate Park.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 20 Feb. 2026
Brashers, who died by suicide during the 1999 Missouri standoff, had already been linked through DNA evidence to the 1990 strangulation of a woman in South Carolina, the 1997 rape of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee and the 1998 fatal shootings of a mother and daughter in Missouri.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Verb
The North Highlands man, 34 at the time of his attacks, then raped and beat them in his vehicle and at a home before dumping them along capital region roadsides.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Investigators said she had been raped and murdered a few hours before and evidence showed that she had been killed somewhere else and her body was moved to the school.
—Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 23 Feb. 2026
She had been dragged down an alley to a secluded area near an apartment building and behind a fence, where she was raped and strangled, according to authorities.
—Maria Aguilar Prieto, CNN Money, 21 Feb. 2026
Then Perret showed her three photographs of an unresponsive woman being raped by three different men.
—Gaby Wood, Vogue, 21 Feb. 2026
At any moment, we could be corralled in a mass detention sweep, bound and raped and maced and mauled for committing the crime of simply existing on our land.
—Literary Hub, 20 Feb. 2026
Sarah Geer, 13, was raped and strangled to death in May 1982.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
To sum up the series finale’s key moments, in the college timeline, Bree (Cat Missal), in a rage of anger after finding out that Lucy (Grace Van Patten) was the person Evan (Branden Cook) had cheated with, releases the tape of Lucy admitting to lying about being raped.
—Emily Longeretta, Variety, 17 Feb. 2026
Now Americans are demanding that those who joined Epstein in raping children and abusing women must face justice.
—The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rape
Noun
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State media quoted Kim saying that any violation of the country’s sovereignty would trigger immediate retaliatory strikes.—
Will Ripley,
CNN Money,
26 Feb. 2026
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ByteDance has faced backlash from major Hollywood studios, including Disney and Paramount, for intellectual property violations surrounding its AI video-making tool Seedance.—
Lola Murti,
CNBC,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Investigators have had glimpses of vehicles from various cameras but, as yet, have not associated a particular vehicle to Guthrie's kidnapping, sources familiar with the case told ABC News.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026
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Twenty-four hours after the kidnapping, the community held a prayer vigil, and pictures of Morgan were posted on the doors of seemingly every store and restaurant and on utility poles, The Courier Journal reported.—
Monroe Trombly,
Louisville Courier Journal,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Trump originally accused the bank of trade libel and violating state and federal unfair and deceptive trade practices.—
Ken Sweet,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2026
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The repeal followed Congress’s zeroing out of penalties for violating Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.—
Julian Torres,
CNN Money,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Caleb Flynn, 39, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of murder, assault and tampering with evidence.—
Sudhin Thanawala,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
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From assault allegations to gambling debts to submitting a fake COVID-19 vaccine card leading to a 21-game suspension, Kane has been the center of many controversies.—
Lia Assimakopoulos,
Dallas Morning News,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Detectives have asked residents of the Catalina Foothills neighborhood where Guthrie lived to submit any suspicious behavior captured on security cameras for the entire month before the abduction.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
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Arizona investigators continue to look for leads into the Nancy Guthrie abduction case, as the search for clues enters its fourth week and appears to be a statistical outlier, according to FBI data and an expert.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The California case has drawn comparisons to the lawsuits brought against Big Tobacco in the 1990s, which forced a national reckoning over the harms of smoking.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
23 Feb. 2026
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United kept Chelsea at bay until substitute Kerr scored in the 78th minute, only for United’s Simi Awujo to equalise three minutes later and force extra time.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rape.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rape. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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