Library / English Dictionary

PLUNDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Goods or money obtained illegally

Synonyms:

booty; dirty money; loot; pillage; plunder; prize; swag

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("plunder" is a kind of...):

stolen property (property that has been stolen)

Meronyms (parts of "plunder"):

cut (a share of the profits)

Derivation:

plunder (steal goods; take as spoils)

plunder (plunder (a town) after capture)

plunder (take illegally; of intellectual property)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Destroy and strip of its possession

Example:

The soldiers raped the beautiful country

Synonyms:

despoil; plunder; rape; spoil; violate

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "plunder" is one way to...):

destroy; ruin (destroy completely; damage irreparably)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plundering (the act of stealing valuable things from a place)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Steal goods; take as spoils

Example:

During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners

Synonyms:

despoil; foray; loot; pillage; plunder; ransack; reave; rifle; strip

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "plunder" is one way to...):

take (take by force)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plunder"):

deplume; displume (strip of honors, possessions, or attributes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plunder (goods or money obtained illegally)

plunderer (someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war))

plundering (the act of stealing valuable things from a place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Plunder (a town) after capture

Example:

the barbarians sacked Rome

Synonyms:

plunder; sack

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "plunder" is one way to...):

take (take by force)

"Plunder" entails doing...:

destroy; ruin (destroy completely; damage irreparably)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plunder (goods or money obtained illegally)

plunderage (the act of plundering (especially the embezzlement of goods on shipboard))

plunderer (someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war))

plundering (the act of stealing valuable things from a place)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take illegally; of intellectual property

Example:

This writer plundered from famous authors

Synonyms:

loot; plunder

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "plunder" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They plunder the goods

Derivation:

plunder (goods or money obtained illegally)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Again, it is unusual for burglars to operate at so early an hour, it is unusual for burglars to strike a lady to prevent her screaming, since one would imagine that was the sure way to make her scream, it is unusual for them to commit murder when their numbers are sufficient to overpower one man, it is unusual for them to be content with a limited plunder when there was much more within their reach, and finally, I should say, that it was very unusual for such men to leave a bottle half empty.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We worked feverishly at carrying our plunder on deck and depositing it amidships, so feverishly that Maud, whose strength was hardly a positive quantity, had to give over, exhausted, and sit on the steps at the break of the poop.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

For instance, a crew of pirates are driven by a storm they know not whither; at length a boy discovers land from the top-mast; they go on shore to rob and plunder, they see a harmless people, are entertained with kindness; they give the country a new name; they take formal possession of it for their king; they set up a rotten plank, or a stone, for a memorial; they murder two or three dozen of the natives, bring away a couple more, by force, for a sample; return home, and get their pardon.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Art so set on plunder then?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And being no stranger to the art of war, I gave him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments, sea fights, ships sunk with a thousand men, twenty thousand killed on each side, dying groans, limbs flying in the air, smoke, noise, confusion, trampling to death under horses’ feet, flight, pursuit, victory; fields strewed with carcases, left for food to dogs and wolves and birds of prey; plundering, stripping, ravishing, burning, and destroying.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

They tell me, bowmen, said he, that ye have grown so fond of ease and plunder and high living that ye are not to be moved from this pleasant country.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

English land and English women, say I, and French wine and French plunder.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“My lord,” cried Alleyne, joyfully, “here are our chargers in the field, and I see your harness amid the plunder which these rogues have left behind them.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As her French sisters decayed she increased, for here, from north, and from east, and from south, came the plunder to be sold and the ransom money to be spent.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

John and Alleyne rode silent on either side, but every inn, farm-steading, or castle brought back to Aylward some remembrance of love, foray, or plunder, with which to beguile the way.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)