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marauding

[muh-raw-ding]
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adjective
  1. engaged in raiding for plunder, especially roaming about and ravaging an area: marauding bands of outlaws.
  2. undertaken for plunder: a marauding raid.
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Origin of marauding

First recorded in 1745–55; maraud + -ing2

maraud

[muh-rawd]
verb (used without object)
  1. to roam or go around in quest of plunder; make a raid for booty: Freebooters were marauding all across the territory.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to raid for plunder (often used passively): At the war's end the country had been marauded by returning bands of soldiers.
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noun
  1. Archaic. the act of marauding.
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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

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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

forageravagedespoilharasssackforayharryraidlootransack

Examples from the Web for marauding

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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?

  • 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
  1. wandering or raiding in search of plunder or victims
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maraud

verb
  1. to wander or raid in search of plunder
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noun
  1. an archaic word for foray
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Derived Formsmarauder, noun

Word Origin

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

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper