marauder

noun

ma·​raud·​er mə-ˈrȯ-dər 

plural marauders

: one who roams from place to place making attacks and raids in search of plunder : one that marauds

Residents … are literally up in arms over seven robberies by hooded, armed men who have broken into homes to terrorize and plunder. Politicos and a legion of border lawmen are clamoring to stop the marauders.

—Jill Mastrull

'You neglect your duties as a father,' she complained. 'What if a Norman marauder had come in the night and snatched me away? … '

—Tom Harper

In 1653, another Hollander, Peter Stuyvesant, built a river-to-river wooden wall to ward off marauders.

—Abby Rand

The brushtail possum is a relentless marauder that invaded New Zealand from Australia. Listed among the world's 100 most-invasive species, it is one of New Zealand's worst pests.

—John Pickrell

Examples of marauder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the story, that turmoil included tsarist marauders that disturbed, or pogrommed, Jews. —Dave Gordon, Sun Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2024

As was the case in the Middle Ages, unemployed former mercenaries often turn into marauders, preying on the weak to survive and wreaking havoc on ordinary citizens. —Allison Stanger, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015

Finding clean water is challenging, marauders roam the land, and some of the humans who remain have resorted to unthinkable behaviour, like cannibalism. —Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024

While that occasion caused much mirth, neighbors in Washington were not pleased with the mass of masked marauders. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1698, in the meaning defined above