marauding

[muh-raw-ding]

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adjective

engaged in raiding for plunder, especially roaming about and ravaging an area: marauding bands of outlaws.
undertaken for plunder: a marauding raid.

Origin of marauding

First recorded in 1745–55; maraud + -ing²

maraud

[muh-rawd]

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 marauding

forage, ravage, despoil, harass, sack, foray, harry, raid, loot, ransack

Examples from the Web for marauding

Contemporary Examples of marauding

His work also provides a graphic account of injured females who were assaulted by marauding “gangs” of Adélie males.
Lovable ‘Madagascar’ Penguins Are Known to Rape and Torture in Real Life
Asawin Suebsaeng
November 26, 2014
The marauding, man-eating Titans are mutated, androgynous beasts that have no need to feed but love to kill.
This Author Kills More Darlings Than George R.R. Martin
David Levesley
September 24, 2014
The original Russian state, “Old Russia,” was established at Novgorod in A.D. 862 by marauding Vikings.
Russian History Is on Our Side: Putin Will Surely Screw Himself
P. J. O’Rourke
May 11, 2014
Thousands perished en route to safer shores or fell prey to marauding pirates.
Remembering the Fall of Saigon and Vietnam’s Mass ‘Boat People’ Exodus
Katie Baker
April 30, 2014
But to stop a marauding militia that has kidnapped tens of thousands of kids over decades, a more potent force is required.
Child Soldiers—Where Is the Help?
John Prendergast, Ashley Benner
September 23, 2011

Historical Examples of marauding

Marauding bands were wandering every where, and no man dwelt in safety.
King Philip
John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
They simply could not say a word, for marauding was punishable with death.
War from the Inside
Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock
This precaution was taken to protect the cache from marauding animals.
The Gaunt Gray Wolf
Dillon Wallace
And do you call this midnight assembly of marauding savages a review?
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
Is he flesh and blood, and responsible for the marauding thefts in the neighborhood?
'Smiles'
Eliot H. Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for marauding

marauding

adjective

wandering or raiding in search of plunder or victims

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 marauding

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.