pillage

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pil·lage

(pĭl′ĭj)

v. pil·laged, pil·lag·ing, pil·lag·es

v.tr.

1. To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war; plunder.

2. To take as spoils.

v.intr.

To take spoils by force.

1. The act of pillaging.

2. Something pillaged; spoils.

[From Middle English, booty, from Old French, from piller, to take (by ruse), plunder, manhandle, from Vulgar Latin *pīliāre, perhaps originally meaning "to deprive (someone) of his felt cap" and derived from Latin pilleus, pīleus, felt cap (given to an ancient Roman freedman as a symbol of his emancipation); perhaps akin to Greek pīlos, felt.]

pil′lag·er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pillage

(ˈpɪlɪdʒ)

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

1. the act of pillaging

2. something obtained by pillaging; booty

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

ˈpillager n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pil•lage

(ˈpɪl ɪdʒ)

v. -laged, -lag•ing,
n. v.t.

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

2. to take as booty.

v.i.

3. to rob with open violence; take booty.

4. the act of plundering, esp. in war.

5. booty.

[1350–1400; Middle English pilage < Middle French pillage, derivative of piller to pillage, orig., to abuse, tear]

pil′lag•er, n.

pillage

1. the act of plundering or large scale robbery, usually accompanied by violence as in wartime.
2. plundered property; booty.

pillage

Past participle: pillaged
Gerund: pillaging

Imperative
pillage
pillage

Present
I pillage
you pillage
he/she/it pillages
we pillage
you pillage
they pillage

Preterite
I pillaged
you pillaged
he/she/it pillaged
we pillaged
you pillaged
they pillaged

Present Continuous
I am pillaging
you are pillaging
he/she/it is pillaging
we are pillaging
you are pillaging
they are pillaging

Present Perfect
I have pillaged
you have pillaged
he/she/it has pillaged
we have pillaged
you have pillaged
they have pillaged

Past Continuous
I was pillaging
you were pillaging
he/she/it was pillaging
we were pillaging
you were pillaging
they were pillaging

Past Perfect
I had pillaged
you had pillaged
he/she/it had pillaged
we had pillaged
you had pillaged
they had pillaged

Future
I will pillage
you will pillage
he/she/it will pillage
we will pillage
you will pillage
they will pillage

Future Perfect
I will have pillaged
you will have pillaged
he/she/it will have pillaged
we will have pillaged
you will have pillaged
they will have pillaged

Future Continuous
I will be pillaging
you will be pillaging
he/she/it will be pillaging
we will be pillaging
you will be pillaging
they will be pillaging

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been pillaging
you have been pillaging
he/she/it has been pillaging
we have been pillaging
you have been pillaging
they have been pillaging

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been pillaging
you will have been pillaging
he/she/it will have been pillaging
we will have been pillaging
you will have been pillaging
they will have been pillaging

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been pillaging
you had been pillaging
he/she/it had been pillaging
we had been pillaging
you had been pillaging
they had been pillaging

Conditional
I would pillage
you would pillage
he/she/it would pillage
we would pillage
you would pillage
they would pillage

Past Conditional
I would have pillaged
you would have pillaged
he/she/it would have pillaged
we would have pillaged
you would have pillaged
they would have pillaged

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	pillage - goods or money obtained illegally booty, dirty money, loot, plunder, prize, swag stolen property - property that has been stolen cut - a share of the profits; "everyone got a cut of the earnings"
	2.	pillage - the act of stealing valuable things from a place; "the plundering of the Parthenon"; "his plundering of the great authors" pillaging, plundering aggression, hostility - violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked banditry - the practice of plundering in gangs rapine - the act of despoiling a country in warfare looting, robbery - plundering during riots or in wartime despoilation, despoilment, despoliation, spoilation, spoliation, spoil - the act of stripping and taking by force ravaging, devastation - plundering with excessive damage and destruction depredation, predation - an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding sack - the plundering of a place by an army or mob; usually involves destruction and slaughter; "the sack of Rome"
Verb	1.	pillage - steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners" despoil, foray, ransack, reave, rifle, loot, plunder, strip take - take by force; "Hitler took the Baltic Republics"; "The army took the fort on the hill" deplume, displume - strip of honors, possessions, or attributes

pillage

verb

1. plunder, strip, sack, rob, raid, spoil (archaic), rifle, loot, ravage, ransack, despoil, maraud, reive (dialect), depredate (rare), freeboot, spoliate Soldiers went on a rampage, pillaging stores and shooting.

noun

1. plundering, sacking, robbery, plunder, sack, devastation, marauding, depredation, rapine, spoliation There were no signs of violence or pillage.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

pillage

verb

To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war:

depredate, despoil, havoc, loot, plunder, ransack, rape, ravage, sack, spoliate, strip.

Archaic: harrow, spoil.

noun

Goods or property seized unlawfully, especially by a victor in wartime:

booty, loot, plunder, spoil (used in plural).

Slang: boodle.

Nautical: prize.

Translations

plündern

λεηλατώ

rüüstamarüüstamine

ryöstää

pillage piller

saccheggiare saccheggio

plundra

pillage

[ˈpɪlɪdʒ]

A. N → pillaje m, saqueo m

B. VT & VI → saquear

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pillage

[ˈpɪlɪdʒ]

vt → piller

vi → piller

n → pillage m

pillage

n (= act) → Plünderung f; (= booty) → Beute f

vti → plündern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pillage

[ˈpɪlɪdʒ]

1. vt → saccheggiare

2. vi → darsi al saccheggio

References in classic literature ?

After a thousand scenes of pillage, of vexation, and attacks by armed forces, their caravan arrived, in October, at the vast oasis of Asben.

View in context

This time he used no ceremony; it might be called a general pillage. He gave up everything.

View in context

And to the prince who goes forth with his army, supporting it by pillage, sack, and extortion, handling that which belongs to others, this liberality is necessary, otherwise he would not be followed by soldiers.

View in context

Now, whoever hath had the honour to be admitted to any degree of intimacy with this mob, must well know that it is one of their established maxims to plunder and pillage their rich neighbours without any reluctance; and that this is held to be neither sin nor shame among them.

View in context

While I was still vainly trying to establish order, I heard a frightful yelling on the other side of the courtyard, and at once ran towards the cries, in dread of finding some new outbreak of the pillage in that direction.