plunder
Americanverb (used with object)
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plunders,
present (3rd person singular)
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plundered,
past participle, past
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plundering
present participle
verb (used without object)
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plunders,
present (3rd person singular)
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plundered,
past participle, past
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plundering
present participle
verb
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to steal (valuables, goods, sacred items, etc) from (a town, church, etc) by force, esp in time of war; loot
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(tr) to rob or steal (choice or desirable things) from (a place)
to plunder an orchard
noun
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anything taken by plundering or theft; booty
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the act of plundering; pillage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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plunderernoun
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plunderableadjective
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plunderousadjective
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unplunderedadjective
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unplunderousadjective
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plunderinglyadverb
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unplunderouslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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plundersimple
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plunderssimple
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have plunderedperfect
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has plunderedperfect
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am plunderingprogressive
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are plunderingprogressive
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is plunderingprogressive
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have been plunderingperfect progressive
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has been plunderingperfect progressive
Past
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plunderedsimple
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had plunderedperfect
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was plunderingprogressive
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were plunderingprogressive
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had been plunderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plunder
First recorded in 1620–30, plunder is from the Dutch word plunderen
Explanation
Plunder can mean stolen goods or money obtained illegally, or the act of taking those things. A burglar might plunder a jewelry store and then sneak off with her plunder. Plunder is an old Middle High German word that originally meant "household goods and clothes": in other words, your stuff. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), English speakers acquired this word while fighting in the land that is today Germany, but with the added meaning of taking the plunder as, well, plunder. As both a noun and verb, a synonym for plunder is loot.
Vocabulary lists containing plunder
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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The Odyssey
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Navy engaged with the British yet again, it also once more exposed American ships traveling Mediterranean to plunder from Barbary pirates, later resulting in the Second Barbary War.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
The Vikings have landed in North America for the second time in just over a millennium and, this time, they’re here to plunder the beer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Machete in hand, Romee resident Jean-Paul Bitilaongi rejoiced at their successful bid to keep the forest out of reach of the "rich people" he says are trying to plunder it.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
And hey, did you know that the word “raptor”—which is often used to describe birds of prey—comes from the Latin verb rapio, which means to plunder, rob, ravish, or abduct?
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
I could tell he had not considered the possibility that all the fatted ships he had traveled so far to plunder might be at the bottom of the sea by the time he got there.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
A blend of Islamic and Hindu beliefs has long served as a conservation code, with supernatural guardians believed to punish anyone who plunders the forest for greed.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
The seven-minute odyssey plunders rock’s then-forbidden city with burbling basslines and guitar wizardry so breathtaking nobody bothered to revoke Greenwood’s daytime-radio visa.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 23, 2020
If you have heard at all about guardianship for older adults, chances are that it has been about a predatory guardian who plunders the estate of a helpless older person.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2018
The narrator thinks about the way he plunders the lives of those around him.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 13, 2018
The landlord, the State, and the banker thus plunders the cultivator by means of rent, taxes, and interest.
From The Conquest of Bread by Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin, Prince
He played in a typically positive fashion, striking at 97.85 as he plundered 11 fours and two sixes before falling for 91, just short of a second ODI ton.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
It is a far cry from 2023-24 when he plundered 19 Premier League goals, and 27 in all competitions.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Kim Jong Un’s cyber army has plundered billions of dollars from the crypto industry in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Khawaja, a qualified pilot, has plundered 6,206 runs in Test cricket with 16 centuries, averaging 43.39.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
All had been broken and plundered; but beside the shattered lid of one there lay the remains of a book.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Think of American shipping companies plundering British ships, which was common practice once upon a time.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The U.S. attorney for northern Mississippi highlighted a former federal employee convicted of plundering a pandemic-era loan program for distressed small businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
It’s all chintzy and campy, the plundering of low-hanging fruit.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Estrada was charged in 2014 with plundering millions of dollars meant for government development projects, but the court acquitted him a decade later.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
When she was a woman grown, well past thirty as she reckoned it, with one husband buried—but the master had given her another—armies, plundering and burning, had come from the North to set them free.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
