What does "pillage" mean?
Pillage: That which is taken from another or others by open force, particularly and chiefly from enemies in war; plunder; spoil; booty. Which pillage they with merry march bring home. Shak. -- Pillage, Plunder. Pillage refers particularly to the act of stripping the sufferers of their goods, while plunder refers to the removal of the things thus taken; but the words are freely interchanged.
Additional senses
- 2.To strip of money or goods by open violence; to plunder; to spoil; to lay waste; as, to pillage the camp of an enemy. Mummius . . . took, pillaged, and burnt their city. Arbuthnot.
- 3.To take spoil; to plunder; to ravage. They were suffered to pillage wherever they went. Macaulay.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00