“plunders” is a form of
plunder
UK /ˈplʌndə/ · US /ˈplʌndɚ/ verb, noun
Forms plunders plundering plundered
- verb (transitive) To pillage, take or destroy all the goods of, by force (as in war); to raid, sack. “The mercenaries plundered the small town.”
- verb (transitive) To take (goods) by pillage. “The mercenaries plundered all the goods they found.”
- verb (intransitive) To take by force or wrongfully; to commit robbery or looting, to raid. ““Now to plunder, mateys!” screamed a buccaneer, to cries of “Arrgh!” and “Aye!” all around.”
- verb (transitive) To make extensive (over)use of, as if by plundering; to use or use up wrongfully. “The miners plundered the jungle for its diamonds till it became a muddy waste.”
- verb (transitive) To take unexpectedly.
- verb (Philippines, criminal law) To amass ill-gotten wealth (by public officials) through a combination or series of overt criminal acts.
- noun An instance of plundering.
- noun The loot attained by plundering. “The Hessian kept his choicest plunder in a sack that never left his person, for fear that his comrades would steal it.”
- noun (slang, dated) Baggage; luggage.
- noun (Philippines, crime) The commission of plunder (verb definition 6).
Synonyms
ravage rifle boodle booty fang gizzit haul hot property loot pelf pickings pillage prigging sack spoil spoils swag prize dirty money despoil reave strip ransack foray rape violate
Etymology
Recorded since 1632 during the Thirty Years War, native British use since the Cromwellian Civil War. Borrowed from German plündern (“to loot”), from Middle High German, from Middle Low German plunderen, from a noun originally meaning "household goods, bedding, clothing," of obscure ultimate origin. This is first attested in medieval records, and according to Gijsseling, is therefore attested too late to be considered a substrate word. Due to the lack of obvious cognates in other languages from which it would have been loaned, it could have developed as some slang word in Lower Saxony/the Low Countries.
Cognate with Dutch plunderen, West Frisian plonderje, Saterland Frisian plunnerje. Probably denominal from a word for “household goods, clothes, bedding”; compare Middle Dutch plunder, German Plunder (“stuff”), Dutch and West Frisian plunje (“clothes”).
The Philippine definitions originate with the Anti-Plunder Act, an act of Congress enacted in 1991.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To take the goods of by force, or without right; to pillage; to spoil; to sack; to strip; to rob; as, to plunder travelers.
- verb To take by pillage; to appropriate forcibly; as, the enemy plundered all the goods they found.
- noun The act of plundering or pillaging; robbery. See Syn. of Pillage.
- noun That which is taken by open force from an enemy; pillage; spoil; booty; also, that which is taken by theft or fraud. "He shared in the plunder." Cowper.
Etymology [G. plündern to plunder, plunder frippery, baggage.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “plunder”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details