rapine

noun

Definition of rapinenext
as in pillage

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rapine If his decades-long track record is any indication, Sanders would be inclined to make excuses for our adversaries and look on the bright side of their repression and rapine. — Rich Lowry, National Review, 25 Feb. 2020 There is no question about the general philosophy that underlay this great act of public pillage and economic rapine. — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 13 Mar. 2013
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rapine
  1. pillage
  2. looting
  3. plundering
  4. despoliation
  5. spoliation
  6. kidnapping
  7. abduction
Noun
  • The people who've made it out are telling us horror stories of mass killings, of rape and pillage of women and families.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Nov. 2025
  • Vikings, for example, used the extra daylight to sneak in a longer pillage sesh.
    — Corey Buhay, Outside Online, 19 June 2025
Definition of pillage
Noun
  • Efforts to prevent looting had been made even before the formation of the MFAA.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026
  • President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act after a generation of lobbying by educators and scientists who wanted to protect sites from commercial artifact looting and haphazard collecting by individuals.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 July 2026
Definition of looting
Noun
  • Some have traveled farther as part of colonial-era collections — as far as the British Museum — and been returned; a story unto itself about the plundering of the natural world in the age of empire, and institutions reckoning with their inheritance.
    — Tom Page, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Living through the aftermath of Rome’s plundering in 410 by the Visigoths, Augustine keenly appreciated the fact that empires come and go.
    — Brett Whalen, The Conversation, 11 Mar. 2026
Definition of plundering
Noun
  • On social media, Tan was pugilistic to the point of belligerence, casting his political enemies as corrupt malefactors responsible for the despoliation of his beloved city.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
  • In the face of such extensive despoliation, grassroots opposition has emerged.
    — Scott W. Stern, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2025
Definition of despoliation
Noun
  • However, the present tax system does not encourage conservation but rather encourages spoliation of our environment through greed and profit based on an income tax system.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 5 May 2026
  • McGinnis’ lawyer said that was tantamount to spoliation — or destruction of evidence.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2026
Definition of spoliation
Noun
  • They were filled with protesters — including outraged members of a teachers’ union and relatives of kidnapping victims — as well as fans skeptical of a team that, four years earlier, posted its worst World Cup performance since 1978.
    — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
  • Razia showed up at the scene not to aid in a kidnapping, but to confront her online tormentor, Sacks maintained.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 4 July 2026
Definition of kidnapping
Noun
  • Government spokesman Bayo Onanuga did not specify the total number of students rescued but authorities said at the time of the abductions from two secondary schools on May 15 that more than 40 people had been abducted.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 July 2026
  • Savannah’s absence has nothing to do with the case of her 84-year-old mother Nancy Guthrie’s abduction.
    — Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 9 July 2026
Definition of abduction

Browse Nearby Words

rapiers
rapine
rapines
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Cite this Entry

“Rapine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rapine. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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