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DictionarypillageViolent looting
verb / noun

pillage

PIL-ij/pˈɪlɪdʒ/

The act of violently stealing goods from a place, especially during war.

The looter pillages the shop, forcing open a chest and stuffing goods into a sack.

A looter violently raids a small shop, prying open a goods chest and stuffing its contents into a sack while the shopkeeper recoils beside the splintered entrance.
Etymology
pillageOld Frenchplunder

Old French pilage meant 'plunder.' English first used the word for the act of plundering, especially in war, then made it a verb for taking goods by open violence.

In context

Libranima478:08
Were you not going to outrageously attack and pillage your lord, the bailiff of the palace? I know that they were going to take something from some one.
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - Hugo (Illustrated Audiobook) Part 2 of 2

More examples

  • The town suffers widespread pillage after its defenses collapse.
  • Armed raiders pillaged the village and carried off its grain.
  • The commander orders his troops to stop pillaging homes.

Forms

pillage · pillages · pillaged · pillaging

pillager noun — A person who steals goods through violence.

Similar words

loot
Often describes stealing during unrest without necessarily using direct violence.
plunder
Emphasizes stripping a place of valuables, often on a large scale.