plunder

Compared meaning: to steal goods violently during war or unrest (verb).

比较义项：（在动乱、战争或抢劫中）洗劫、抢夺财物（动词）。

• loot

  Describes opportunistic stealing during riots, power cuts or disasters, often from shops; common in news reports and also works as a noun for the stolen goods.

  指在骚乱、停电或灾难期间趁乱偷窃，常见于新闻中商店遭抢的场景；该词也可作名词，指被抢的赃物。

  Rioters looted shops along the main street during the blackout.

  停电期间，暴徒洗劫了大街上的商店。

• plunder 本词

  Emphasizes large-scale, forceful seizure of valuables over time, typically by pirates, raiders or armies; carries a more dramatic, literary tone than the others.

  强调海盗、劫掠者或军队长期、大规模地暴力夺取贵重财物，语气比其他几个词更具文学色彩、更戏剧化。

  For centuries, raiders sailed the coast to plunder wealthy trading ports.

  几个世纪以来，劫掠者沿海岸航行，掠夺富庶的贸易港口。

• ransack

  Highlights the violent act of searching a place thoroughly, turning over drawers and rooms, more than the theft itself; can be used even when little is actually stolen.

  强调翻箱倒柜、彻底搜查某处的暴力动作，比起偷窃本身更突出搜查这一行为，即使搜查所得不多也可使用。

  Burglars ransacked the bedroom, throwing clothes and papers everywhere.

  窃贼把卧室翻了个底朝天，衣服和文件扔得到处都是。

• pillage

  Strongly associated with wartime destruction, describing soldiers or armies stripping villages or towns of goods, often alongside burning; has a formal, historical register.

  多与战争破坏相关，指士兵或军队洗劫村庄或城镇的财物，常伴随纵火等破坏行为，语体较正式，带有历史色彩。

  The invading army pillaged the town before setting it on fire.

  入侵的军队在放火烧毁城镇之前先将其洗劫一空。

Loot, plunder, ransack, and pillage mean stealing goods by force, but settings differ. Loot suits riots or robbed shops. Plunder suits pirates taking valuables, sounding literary. Ransack stresses searching a place thoroughly, not what was stolen. Pillage is about soldiers robbing towns in war.

这几个词都表示以暴力或混乱手段抢夺财物，但典型语境和搭配不同：loot 常用于骚乱或商店遭抢的场景；plunder 强调海盗、劫掠者长期大规模地夺取贵重财物，语气更具文学色彩；ransack 强调翻箱倒柜、彻底搜查某处的动作，未必聚焦于偷走了什么；pillage 多用于战争语境，指士兵或军队洗劫村镇。这四个词在本卡片比较的义项之外没有其他常见义项需要排除。

Compared meaning: goods taken by force, such as in war (noun).

比较义项：因暴力（如战争、抢劫）而被夺走的财物，或以暴力夺取财物的行为（名词）。

• loot

  The most everyday, neutral word for stolen goods or valuables, used for anything from a burglary to war spoils; a concrete noun for the stuff itself, not the act of stealing.

  loot是最普通、语气中性的词，指被偷走的财物或贵重物品，从入室盗窃到战争掠夺所得的东西都可以叫loot；它是指“物品”本身的名词，而不是偷窃这一行为。

  The burglars split the loot from the jewelry store robbery.

  劫匪们瓜分了从珠宝店抢来的赃物。

• plunder 本词

  More literary and dramatic than loot; refers to wealth or valuables seized by force, especially in war, piracy or colonial conquest, often emphasizing large-scale, systematic exploitation for profit rather than a single theft.

  plunder比loot更具文学色彩、更戏剧化，指通过暴力（尤其是在战争、海盗行为或殖民征服中）夺取的财富或贵重物品，强调的是大规模、系统性地掠取财富以谋利，而不是一次单独的盗窃。

  European colonizers grew rich through the plunder of the region's natural resources.

  欧洲殖民者通过掠夺该地区的自然资源而致富。

• pillage

  Emphasizes the violent, destructive act of ransacking a place—burning, killing, wrecking—rather than just taking goods; strongest and most negative in tone, often paired with 'rape and pillage' to describe wartime atrocities.

  pillage强调的是暴力破坏性的洗劫行为本身——焚烧、杀戮、摧毁，而不只是拿走财物；语气最强烈、最负面，常与“奸淫掳掠（rape and pillage）”连用，用来描述战争中的暴行。

  The pillage of the ancient city left its temples in ruins.

  对这座古城的洗劫使其神庙化为废墟。

Loot, plunder, and pillage can mean stolen goods, easy to confuse. Loot is most common, meaning stolen items. Plunder is literary, meaning wealth seized on a large scale. Pillage is strongest, meaning violent destruction of a place. As verbs meaning to rob, not compared here.

这三个词都可以指“抢来的东西”或“抢夺的行为”，很容易混用，但语气和侧重点不同：loot最普通、最日常，重点在“赃物”本身；plunder更文学化，强调大规模、有计划地掠取财富；pillage语气最强烈，强调暴力破坏、洗劫一地的行为。这里不比较loot、plunder、pillage各自作动词时“抢劫、洗劫”的用法。