raid

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A sudden surprise attack or visit, especially by police or soldiers, to make arrests or seize property.

   The police carried out a dawn raid on the suspect's house.

2. 2
   verb

   To make a sudden surprise attack on a place, often to arrest people or seize goods.

   Officers raided the warehouse and found stolen goods.

3. 3
   verb

   To enter a place and take things from it, often quickly or without permission.

   The kids raided the fridge as soon as they got home.

From Scots raid, from Northern Middle English rade, from Old English rād (“a riding, an expedition on horseback, road”), whence also the inherited English road (“way, street”). The earlier senses of “a riding, expedition, raid” fell into disuse in Early Modern English, but were revived in the northern form raid by Walter Scott in the early 19th century. The use for a swift police operation appears in the later 19th century and may perhaps have been influenced by French razzia (similar in both original meaning and sound).

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