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loot1

[loot]
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noun
  1. spoils or plunder taken by pillaging, as in war.
  2. anything taken by dishonesty, force, stealth, etc.: a burglar's loot.
  3. a collection of valued objects: The children shouted and laughed as they opened their Christmas loot.
  4. Slang. money: You'll have a fine time spending all that loot.
  5. act of looting or plundering: to take part in the loot of a conquered city.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to carry off or take (something) as loot: to loot a nation's art treasures.
  2. to despoil by taking loot; plunder or pillage (a city, house, etc.), as in war.
  3. to rob, as by burglary or corrupt activity in public office: to loot the public treasury.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to take loot; plunder: The conquerors looted and robbed.
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Origin of loot1

1780–90; < Hindi lūṭ, akin to Sanskrit luṇṭhati (he) steals
Related formsloot·er, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for loot on Thesaurus.com
1. booty. 7. sack, ransack.

loot2

[loot]
verb Scot.
  1. simple past tense of let1.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for looting

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He's in it, just as much as if he'd got a thousand men behind him, all looting territory.

    The Prisoner

    Alice Brown

  • The joints had been better barricaded, and the looting had been kept to a minimum.

    Police Your Planet

    Lester del Rey

  • Over on the east coast, the outlaws are looting whole towns.

    The Cosmic Computer

    Henry Beam Piper

  • The lusts of conquest, and of looting, and of combat, all contribute to this spirit of war.

  • The looting went on persistently and on a scale almost unthinkable.

British Dictionary definitions for looting

loot

noun
  1. goods stolen during pillaging, as in wartime, during riots, etc
  2. goods, money, etc, obtained illegally
  3. informal money or wealth
  4. the act of looting or plundering
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verb
  1. to pillage (a city, settlement, etc) during war or riots
  2. to steal (money or goods), esp during pillaging
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Derived Formslooter, noun

Word Origin

C19: from Hindi lūt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for looting

n.

1842, verbal noun from loot (v.).

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loot

n.

"goods taken from an enemy, etc.," 1788, Anglo-Indian, from Hindi lut, from Sanskrit loptram, lotram "booty, stolen property," from PIE *roup-tro-, from root *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)). The verb is first attested 1821, from the noun. Related: Looted; looting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper