as in predation
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Recent Examples of spoliation
The spoliation inference becomes a presumption of guilt that's incredibly challenging to overcome.
—
Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Last Friday, Damien Marshall and other King & Spalding attorneys on behalf of MSG filed a memorandum of law in opposition to Oakley’s motion for what are known as spoliation sanctions, meaning a punishment for failure to preserve relevant evidence.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 May 2025
An attorney who allows a client to continue using their phone risks spoliation as normal usage can overwrite or erase crucial data.
—Lars Daniel, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
That amounts to spoliation, the defense claims, and should result in the dismissal of the charges against Trump.
—Perry Stein, Washington Post, 30 June 2024
The West should also prepare for a Russia that inflicts even greater spoliation on a global scale—but not drive it to do so.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
Epic filed a motion to sanction Google for alleged spoliation of evidence in October.
—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 21 Mar. 2023
Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Last Friday, Damien Marshall and other King & Spalding attorneys on behalf of MSG filed a memorandum of law in opposition to Oakley’s motion for what are known as spoliation sanctions, meaning a punishment for failure to preserve relevant evidence.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 May 2025
An attorney who allows a client to continue using their phone risks spoliation as normal usage can overwrite or erase crucial data.
—Lars Daniel, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
That amounts to spoliation, the defense claims, and should result in the dismissal of the charges against Trump.
—Perry Stein, Washington Post, 30 June 2024
The West should also prepare for a Russia that inflicts even greater spoliation on a global scale—but not drive it to do so.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
Epic filed a motion to sanction Google for alleged spoliation of evidence in October.
—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 21 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spoliation
Noun
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This week, many of those survivors joined the nonprofit advocacy group Model Alliance in calling for state and federal investigations into what role the modeling industry may have played in facilitating Epstein’s decades’ worth of predation.—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Warm water spilling through to Grand Canyon could support breeding by invasive bass that lurk as a predation threat the Canyon’s native fish.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
-
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
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
Noun
-
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
-
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
Noun
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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
Noun
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Article continues below Unfortunately, a passing asteroid deposits a killer alien robot in their midst, and the soldiers must fend for themselves as this marauding mech stalks them with guns and lasers blazing.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
10 Mar. 2026
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Rutter, the club’s record £40m buy from Leeds United, was an instant hit last season with insatiable work rate and marauding runs until an ankle injury ruled him out from March for the rest of the campaign.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spoliation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoliation. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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