as in to wipe out
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spoliate
Verb
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The concurrent blazes killed 30 people and destroyed more than 16,200 buildings – compared to 85 and 18,800 for the Camp inferno, which wiped out the Northern California town of Paradise.—
Jorge L. Ortiz,
USA Today,
22 July 2025 -
The break-in wiped out years of investment in addressing food equity across Sacramento.—
Olivia Cyrus
July 18,
Sacbee.com,
18 July 2025
Verb
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This is the first time a studio has put tickets for sale this early in advance, but considering Nolan has a loyal army of fans large enough to sack a city, there certainly won’t be any shortage of uptake.—
Benny Har-Even,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen backed former boss Christian Horner before he got sacked by the higher-ups at the racing team.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 July 2025
Verb
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White settlers in the nineteenth century tore down the city’s adobe structures and replaced them with red bricks.—
Geraldo Cadava,
New Yorker,
23 July 2025
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Mussolini tore down the housing and filled some of the tunnels with dirt to stabilize the hill above as part of his grand revitalization plan to modernize the Italian capital.—
Antonia Mortensen,
CNN Money,
23 July 2025
Verb
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Although the passengers managed to swim or be hauled on ropes to shore, much of the ship’s cargo—which included tea, brandy, nails, iron, and Wright’s paintings—was lost, washed out of the ship’s hold and either plundered by a passing privateer and people living nearby or sunk below the waves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 July 2025
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The British Museum has many artifacts in its collection which were plundered during imperial and colonial eras, and are contested.—
Lauren Frayer,
NPR,
11 July 2025
Verb
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Before its fury was exhausted, the mob rampaged through the Loop, breaking hundreds of windows and looting jewelry and department stores.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
27 July 2025
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Broadcasts aired stampedes of people trapped in the Superdome, overhead footage of submerged streets, and looted grocery stores.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 July 2025
Verb
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In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
26 July 2025
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Initially used for reconnaissance, drones now execute precision strikes, destroy armored vehicles, and provide real-time battlefield intelligence.—
Sophie Clark,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
Verb
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The difficult business of democracy In 1992, a year before I was born, a group called YK ‘92 was launched into the Kenyan political scene to sabotage the general elections and ensure that Moi’s iron grip on power continued.—
Troy Onyango,
Time,
24 July 2025
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During Trump’s presidential campaign, the fans sabotaged a rally by block-booking the event to ensure there’d be swathes of empty seats.—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
24 July 2025
Verb
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There is no serious evidence of starvation in Gaza, and what food scarcity does exist can be attributed to Hamas pillaging and hoarding aid.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
12 Apr. 2025
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Noni finds him in Crete, where Lion’s crew of pirates, assembled from fighters from around the world, are currently pillaging and enslaving a town.—
Kambole Campbell,
Variety,
9 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Spoliate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoliate. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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