Southerners considered them ready to loot and plunder the defeated south.
British Dictionary definitions for loot
loot
/luːt/
noun
1.
goods stolen during pillaging, as in wartime, during riots, etc
2.
goods, money, etc, obtained illegally
3.
(informal) money or wealth
4.
the act of looting or plundering
verb
5.
to pillage (a city, settlement, etc) during war or riots
6.
to steal (money or goods), esp during pillaging
Derived Forms
looter, noun
Word Origin
C19: from Hindi lūt
Word Origin and History for loot
n.
"goods taken from an enemy, etc.," 1788, Anglo-Indian, from Hindi lut, from Sanskrit loptram, lotram "booty, stolen property," from PIE *roup-tro-, from root *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)). The verb is first attested 1821, from the noun. Related: Looted; looting.
Slang definitions & phrases for loot
loot 1
noun
Money, esp a large amount of money: Rich planters would come and spend some awful large amounts of loot/ There's a lot of loot there, kiddo(1930+ Jazz musicians)