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Loot vs Trophy - What's the difference?

loot | trophy |

As nouns the difference between loot and trophy

is that loot is a kind of scoop or ladle, chiefly used to remove the scum from brine-pans in saltworks or loot can be the act of plundering while trophy is .

As a verb loot

is to steal, especially as part of war, riot or other group violence.

loot

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) loet, loete .

Alternative forms

*

Noun

(en noun)
  • A kind of scoop or ladle, chiefly used to remove the scum from brine-pans in saltworks.

    • Etymology 2

    Attested 1788, a loan from Hindustani . The verb is from 1842. Fallows (1885) records both the noun and the verb as "Recent. Anglo-Indian". In origin only applicable to plundering in warfare. A figurative meaning developed in American English in the 1920s, resulting in a generalized meaning by the 1950s

    Noun

    (-)
  • The act of plundering.
    • the loot of an ancient city
  • plunder, booty, especially from a ransacked city.
  • (colloquial, US) any prize or profit received for free, especially Christmas presents
  • *1956 "Free Loot for Children" (LIFE Magazine, 23 April 1956, p. 131)
  • (video games) Items dropped from defeated enemies in video games and online games.
    • Synonyms
    * swag
    Related terms
    * contraband * plunder

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to steal, especially as part of war, riot or other group violence.
  • *1833 "Gunganarian, the leader of the Chooars, continues his system of looting and murder", The asiatic Journal and monthly register for British India and its Dependencies Black, Parbury & Allen, p. 66.
  • (video games) to examine the corpse of a fallen enemy for loot.

    • Anagrams

    * *

    References

    *Samuel Fallows, The progressive dictionary of the English language: a supplementary wordbook to all leading dictionaries of the United States and Great Britain (1885). English terms derived from Hindi English terms derived from Urdu ----

    trophy

    English

    Noun

    (trophies)
  • .
  • An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement.
    • He won the trophy in a running competition.
  • An object taken as a prize by a hunter or conqueror, especially one that is displayed.
  • * Dryden
    • Around the posts hung helmets, darts, and spears, / And captive chariots, axes, shields, and bars, / And broken beaks of ships, the trophies of their wars.
    The set of antlers which hung on the wall was his prized trophy .
  • Any emblem of success; a status symbol.
    • His trophies included his second wife, his successful children, the third and fourth homes in Palm Beach and Malibu, his three yachts (for the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean), his jet, and his mistresses.
  • (criminology, by extension) An object taken by a serial killer or rapist as a memento of the crime.
  • * 1994 , Philip Jenkins, Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide [http://books.google.com/books?id=nhXmk3Tm-SQC], ISBN 0202305252, page 117:
    • The souvenirs which many killers retain of their victims are often described as trophies , and Norman Bates's taxidermic interests derived from the real-life Ed Gein.
  • * 2001 , R. Michael Gordon, Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects [http://books.google.com/books?id=n5PWnVtQs4MC], ISBN 0786408987, page 82:
    • A trophy from this murder would have been of great importance.
  • * 2004 , Ronald F. Becker, Criminal Investigation [http://books.google.com/books?id=YDGaGSdjc6kC], ISBN 0763731684, page 168:
    • The offender is also likely to mentally relive his killings, often with the help of souvenirs or trophies , such as a bracelet or a body part taken from the victim.

    Derived terms

    * trophy money * trophy wife

    See also

    * -trophy (suffix)