pillage

[ pil-ij ]

verb (used with object)

, pil·laged, pil·lag·ing.

1. to strip ruthlessly of money or goods by open violence, as in war; plunder:

   The barbarians pillaged every conquered city.

   Synonyms: rape, despoil, spoil, sack, rob

2. to take as booty.

verb (used without object)

, pil·laged, pil·lag·ing.

1. to rob with open violence; take booty:

   Soldiers roamed the countryside, pillaging and killing.

noun

1. the act of plundering, especially in war.

   Synonyms: spoliation, depredation, rapine

2. booty or spoil.

   Synonyms: plunder

pillage

/ ˈpɪlɪdʒ /

verb

1. to rob (a town, village, etc) of (booty or spoils), esp during a war

noun

1. the act of pillaging
2. something obtained by pillaging; booty

Derived Forms

• ˈpillager, noun

Other Words From

• pillag·er noun
• un·pillaged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pillage¹

1350–1400; Middle English pilage ( pill ³, -age ), modeled on Middle French pillage (derivative of piller to pillage, originally, to abuse, mistreat, tear, of uncertain origin)

Word History and Origins

Origin of pillage¹

C14: via Old French from piller to despoil, probably from peille rag, from Latin pīleus felt cap

Example Sentences

They also say the lands aren’t being adequately protected from those seeking to pillage natural resources and visitors who trash sacred sites.

From Los Angeles Times

Corcoran’s chief anxiety was a Democratic uprising: a Trump victory, she said, would lead people in the cities to pillage and plunder.

From Los Angeles Times

This repatriated collection represents a minuscule fraction of the 7,000 pieces the French pillaged from their former colony — and that number applies only to what they took from this one location among many.

From Los Angeles Times

“It contrasts so well with his exterior of being this great warrior and pillaging and killing and doing all that. But on the inside, he’s quite soft and cuddly and quite childlike.”

From Los Angeles Times

Like a swarm of human locusts, RSF militiamen rampaged through the capital, Khartoum, stripping it bare of anything that could be pillaged and resold.

From BBC

Related Words

• desecrate
• loot
• maraud
• pilfer
• ransack
• ravage