rape
8
9.9
- noun
- /reɪp/
- Offensive
- Militias and gangs have deployed rape as a weapon of war, bringing devastation to individuals, families, entire communities.
Examples
-
What you call discovery... I call the rape of the natural world.
-
Massacres and rape, routinely used as weapons of war, have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
-
This is The Rape of Rome.
-
Here, some 12-15 million people were uprooted and driven from their homes amid rape and murder.
Academic text (1999) -
13 Rather, the army engaged in indiscriminate acts of terror, including summary executions, rape of civilians, and looting and burning of villages.
Academic text (2010) -
The historical records detail the rape of the countryside during the war, leaving towns in ruins.
-
Many civilians suffered from the rape of their homeland, as invading forces looted their resources.
-
The rape of the region was evident in the abandoned buildings and the desolate landscape left behind.
Synonyms
102
4.8
Great destruction that leaves places badly damaged, for example after a war or storm
54
4.9
Stealing things from shops, often during a riot or disaster
2
6.0
The act of taking valuable things by force, often during war
1
9.9
Violent stealing of things from people, often during war
1
8.7
An action that causes great damage or destruction
Idioms
Compounds
- Offensive
35
7.9
A sexual act that someone forces on a person they know, often after a date
- Offensive
26
8.5
Sex with a person younger than the age the law allows, even if both agree
- Offensive
1
9.9
A claim that sex was forced after a person first agreed but later regretted it
- Slur
1
9.9
An offensive phrase used to say one person is unfairly treated in a divorce, often about money or child custody
- Offensive
An unwanted sexual touching of a person at an event entrance during a security check
How Devastating
Surface Forms
Etymology
The noun rape as 'plunder' also comes from Latin rapere, 'to seize', and was used for violent taking in war, like the grabbing of a city's goods; that's why old histories speak of the 'rape' of a place as great theft and destruction.