ransack
to search thoroughly or vigorously through (a house, receptacle, etc.): They ransacked the house for the missing letter.
to search through for plunder; pillage: The enemy ransacked the entire town.
Origin of ransack
1Other words from ransack
- ran·sack·er, noun
- un·ran·sacked, adjective
Words Nearby ransack
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ransack in a sentence
A few hours later, just as rioters were ransacking Congressional offices, Republican state lawmaker Daniel Cox of Maryland tweeted, “Pence is a traitor.”
The Republican Party Has Distanced Itself From The Capitol Riot. But Local GOP Officials Fueled Supporters' Rage Ahead of Jan. 6 | Madeleine Carlisle | January 15, 2021 | TimeNor was there doubt that rioters had ransacked the second-floor office of the Senate parliamentarian, covering the blue carpeting by the fireplace with papers.
They ransacked the National Intelligencer newspaper office, with Cockburn ordering the seizure of all the letter C’s from the presses so that the editor could no longer write nasty things about him.
In 1814, British forces burned the U.S. Capitol | Joel Achenbach | January 6, 2021 | Washington PostThey ransacked offices of senior executives and looted thousands of iPhones and laptops, resulting in $7 million worth of damage and several arrests.
Apple’s first iPhone supplier in India stretched its workers too far—and they snapped | Ananya Bhattacharya | December 21, 2020 | QuartzWe were ransacking Mongols, held together by scabs and duct tape, looking to pick up girls or get in a fight.
He refilled his glass, and having looked in his cigarette-case, began to ransack a small cupboard.
Dope | Sax RohmerBut, in truth, an English world was having cause to ransack the dust-heaps for neglected men of mettle.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete | George MeredithFor full two hours did these partisans of Matilda ransack the abbey, with none to say them nay.
A Legend of Reading Abbey | Charles MacFarlaneThe capataz was the last to go, after bending on the unknown one of those glances which ransack the depths of a man's heart.
The Tiger-Slayer | Gustave Aimardransack your brain, then, and see if you do not find there evidence of what I have stated.
The Woman Who Vowed | Ellison Harding
British Dictionary definitions for ransack
/ (ˈrænsæk) /
to search through every part of (a house, box, etc); examine thoroughly
to plunder; pillage
Origin of ransack
1Derived forms of ransack
- ransacker, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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