1. the act of seizing and carrying away things by force; plunder or pillage
Usage: formal; literary

Examples

• The invading army engaged in rapine, stealing everything of value from the conquered city.
• Historical accounts describe the rapine that followed the fall of the fortress.
• The novel depicted scenes of war and rapine in medieval times.
• Ancient texts warn against the rapine committed by lawless bands.
• The museum exhibit showed artifacts recovered after centuries of rapine and theft.
• Scholars studied the economic impact of rapine on medieval trade routes.