as in plunders
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despoils
Verb
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By delegitimizing the Islamic Republic as an occupying force—one that plunders national wealth to subsidize regional proxies—the opposition has effectively subverted the regime’s nationalist rhetoric.—
Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026
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Lowell plunders an emerald out of a wrecked ship, starts a fistfight with a local ruler, nearly dies when a boa constrictor wraps itself around her neck, and is wounded by an alligator.—
Verb
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Israel blames Hamas for the scale of the destruction in Gaza, saying the group hides behind civilians, uses civil infrastructure for military purposes, and loots humanitarian aid intended for ordinary Gazans.—
Verb
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The culminating episode, as the mob smashes and ransacks a hospital and terrorizes its patients, ultimately reveals a frail elderly man, standing naked and alone in an empty bathtub as the assailants approach.—
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“Despoils.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoils. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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