maraud

[muh-rawd]

See more synonyms for maraud on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to roam or go around in quest of plunder; make a raid for booty: Freebooters were marauding all across the territory.

verb (used with object)

to raid for plunder (often used passively): At the war's end the country had been marauded by returning bands of soldiers.

noun

Archaic. the act of marauding.

Origin of maraud

1705–15; < French marauder, derivative of maraud rogue, vagabond, Middle French, perhaps identical with dial. maraud tomcat, of expressive orig.

Related formsma·raud·er, noun

Synonyms for maraud

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1, 2. invade, attack; ravage, harry.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for marauder

bandit, looter, robber, outlaw, thief, plunderer, corsair, buccaneer, pirate, freebooter, ravager

Examples from the Web for marauder

Contemporary Examples of marauder

In a live TV interview the prime minister called the demonstrators “çapulcu,” which means “looter” or “marauder” in Turkish.
Smiling Under a Cloud of Tear Gas: Elif Shafak on Istanbul’s Streets
Elif Shafak
June 11, 2013

Historical Examples of marauder

Did it have a victim in its jaws or had some marauder stolen it?
Darry the Life Saver
Frank V. Webster
No marauder appeared, yet in the morning he found that a new section had been visited.
Followers of the Trail
Zoe Meyer
Thou comest with stealthy tread, like the midnight marauder.
Erling the Bold
R.M. Ballantyne
For two or three mornings after that the milk was not visited by the marauder.
The Biography of a Prairie Girl
Eleanor Gates
Their wings cuffed the marauder's head in a fashion that confused him.
The Watchers of the Trails
Charles G. D. Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for marauder

maraud

verb

to wander or raid in search of plunder

noun

an archaic word for foray

Derived Formsmarauder, noun

Word Origin for maraud

C18: from French marauder to prowl, from maraud vagabond

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 marauder

1690s, agent noun from maraud (v.).

maraud

1690s, from French marauder (17c.), from Middle French maraud "rascal" (15c.), of unknown origin, perhaps from French dialectal maraud "tomcat," echoic of its cry. A word popularized in several languages during the Thirty Years War (cf. Spanish merodear, German marodiren "to maraud," marodebruder "straggler, deserter") by punning association with Count Mérode, imperialist general. Related: Marauded; marauding.