raid

Etymology

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).

noun

1. (military) A quick hostile or predatory incursion or invasion in a battle.
   Marauding chief! his sole delight / The moonlight raid, the morning fight. 1805, Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, page 109
   There are permanent conquests, temporary occupation, and occasional raids. 1872, Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Biology, volume 1, page 315
2. An attack or invasion for the purpose of making arrests, seizing property, or plundering.
   a police raid of a narcotics factory
   a raid of contractors on the public treasury
   For Lothian and Borders Police, the early-morning raid had come at the end one of biggest investigations carried out by the force, which had originally presented a dossier of evidence on the murder of Jodi Jones to the Edinburgh procurator-fiscal, William Gallagher, on 25 November last year. April 15, 2004, “Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer”, in The Scotsman
3. (sports) An attacking movement.
   The athletic Walker, one of Tottenham's more effective attacking elements with his raids from right-back, made a timely intervention after Rose had been dispossessed and even Aaron Lennon was needed to provide an interception in the danger zone to foil another attempt by the Russians. October 20, 2011, Jamie Lillywhite, “Tottenham 1 - 0 Rubin Kazan”, in BBC Sport
4. (Internet) An activity initiated at or towards the end of a live broadcast by the broadcaster that sends its viewers to a different broadcast, primarily intended to boost the viewership of the receiving broadcaster. This is frequently accompanied by a message in the form of a hashtag that is posted in the broadcast's chat by the viewers.
   Now that Twitch is making raids an official part of the platform, however, some streamers think the new feature will make it easier to participate in the positive aspects of raiding. November 3, 2017, Ethan Gach, “What Twitch's New Raiding System Means For Streamers”, in Kotaku, archived from the original on 2017-11-09
   Now streamers can use a new feature that lets their viewers join a raid then drive traffic to another streamer with just a click. October 20, 2017, Sarah Perez, “Twitch unveils a suite of new tools to help creators grow their channels and make money”, in TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2017-11-04
5. (online gaming) A large group in a massively multiplayer online game, consisting of multiple parties who team up to defeat a powerful enemy.

verb

1. (transitive) To engage in a raid against.
   The police raided the gambling den.
   The soldiers raided the village and burned it down.
   A group of mobsters raided an art museum and stole a bunch of paintings.
2. (transitive) To lure from another; to entice away from.
3. (transitive) To indulge oneself by taking from.
   I raided the fridge for snacks.