plunder
To steal goods by force, especially during a battle or raid.
- The pirates planned to plunder the merchant ship.
- Invaders came to plunder the monastery's treasure.
Similar: loot, raid, rob
plunder or ransack?
Plunder is about taking. Ransack is about searching and making a mess.
Both words appear in the same kind of story, often in the same paragraph, so children assume they mean the same. One is about what is taken; the other is about the state the place is left in.
To plunder is to steal goods by force, usually during a raid or a battle. When pirates plunder a merchant ship, the point is the treasure they carry away.
To ransack is to search somewhere roughly, flinging things about. Robbers might ransack a cabin looking for gold, but you can also ransack your own bedroom looking for your PE kit on a Monday morning, with clothes all over the floor. Nothing is stolen at all, which shows the word is really about the searching.
Both words, side by side
ransack
To search a place roughly and messily, often stealing things.
- The pirates began to ransack the cabin, flinging clothes and papers everywhere as they hunted for gold.
- The naughty puppy managed to ransack the toy box, scattering teddies all over the floor.
Similar: raid, loot, plunder
Why it costs marks
Cloze and closest-meaning questions test exactly this. If a passage describes drawers pulled out and papers everywhere, ransack is the word; if it is about goods being carried off, plunder fits better. Picking the right one shows the child has read what actually happened.
Definitions and example sentences on this page are the ones a child sees inside Wordrealm, taken from our list of over 1,100 words. It is free to browse, with nothing to sign up for.
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test