as in looting
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as in pillaging
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
the escaped convict plundered the house in search of valuables
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Recent Examples of plundering
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
An intimate doc-feature take on renowned Panamanian anthropologist Reina Torres de Araúz (1932-82), who battled the plundering of artifacts from pre-1492 tombs, told from th POV of a soon who lost her mother too soon.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 9 Mar. 2026
ByteDance’s statement follows the Chinese tech giant receiving cease and desist letters from Disney and Paramount, calling for an immediate halt to IP plundering.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026
It was revealed during that trial that Low's plundering of the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund exceeded $4 billion.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Nov. 2025
Aron Solomon on how the Meta AI copyright decision made libraries sitting ducks for AI plundering.
—Literary Hub, 27 June 2025
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
Most Americans don’t want our nation to be an imperial aggressor threatening, conquering and plundering weaker nations.
—Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2026
An increasing number of bears had previously been observed spending more time on land during the summer, plundering birds’ nests in west Svalbard, and data had shown more adult females in east Svalbard spending more time in areas with bird colonies.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Bainbridge wasn’t shy about plundering her personal life for material.
—Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump is not keeping that a secret but is being quite open about plundering it all.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
The most forward-looking strategy is to protect Greenland’s ice sheet rather than plundering a remote Arctic island while ramping up fossil fuel production and accelerating climate change around the world.
—Paul Bierman, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2026
French buccaneers spent much of the seventeenth century hiding and plundering along the northwest coast of Hispaniola, eventually realizing more money could be made farming tobacco and sugar.
—Literary Hub, 5 Jan. 2026
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
An intimate doc-feature take on renowned Panamanian anthropologist Reina Torres de Araúz (1932-82), who battled the plundering of artifacts from pre-1492 tombs, told from th POV of a soon who lost her mother too soon.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 9 Mar. 2026
ByteDance’s statement follows the Chinese tech giant receiving cease and desist letters from Disney and Paramount, calling for an immediate halt to IP plundering.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026
It was revealed during that trial that Low's plundering of the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund exceeded $4 billion.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Nov. 2025
Aron Solomon on how the Meta AI copyright decision made libraries sitting ducks for AI plundering.
—Literary Hub, 27 June 2025
Verb
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
Most Americans don’t want our nation to be an imperial aggressor threatening, conquering and plundering weaker nations.
—Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2026
An increasing number of bears had previously been observed spending more time on land during the summer, plundering birds’ nests in west Svalbard, and data had shown more adult females in east Svalbard spending more time in areas with bird colonies.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 30 Jan. 2026
Bainbridge wasn’t shy about plundering her personal life for material.
—Christopher Tayler, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Trump is not keeping that a secret but is being quite open about plundering it all.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
The most forward-looking strategy is to protect Greenland’s ice sheet rather than plundering a remote Arctic island while ramping up fossil fuel production and accelerating climate change around the world.
—Paul Bierman, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2026
French buccaneers spent much of the seventeenth century hiding and plundering along the northwest coast of Hispaniola, eventually realizing more money could be made farming tobacco and sugar.
—Literary Hub, 5 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plundering
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
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
Noun
-
Nastasa has been arrested 38 times in New York City, with charges including robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny, threat by phone and criminal contempt.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The play, like the movie, is loosely based on a robbery that took place in 1972, on a boiling-hot August day, when an eccentric, deep-in-debt Vietnam veteran named John Wojtowicz entered a Chase bank in Brooklyn with a gun and two accomplices, hoping for a quick score.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Critics contend the industry plunders distressed companies, leading to downsizing and cost-cutting that hurts local communities, though other research has pushed back on that reputation.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
28 Mar. 2026
-
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
Verb
-
There’s also talk of US forces raiding nuclear sites deep inside Iran to retrieve worrisome nuclear material, amid heightened fears that it could be used by an angry and desperate Iranian regime to manufacture nuclear weapons.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Noem sent Bovino and his Border Patrol agents into Los Angeles last June, and viral social-media clips of agents raiding Home Depot parking lots soon followed.—
Nick Miroff,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In those cases, the GFP says mountain lions were lethally removed due to livestock depredation, attacks on pets, or concerns and threats to public safety.—
Angela George,
Sioux Falls Argus Leader,
20 Mar. 2026
-
In October 2024, 20 mountain lions were killed through depredation permits statewide, the DFW reported.—
Steve Scauzillo,
Daily News,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plundering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plundering. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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