ransack

[ ran-sak ]
See synonyms for: ransackransacker on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to search thoroughly or vigorously through (a house, receptacle, etc.): They ransacked the house for the missing letter.

  2. to search through for plunder; pillage: The enemy ransacked the entire town.

Origin of ransack

1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English ransaken, from Old Norse rannsaka “to search, examine (for evidence of crime),” equivalent to rann “house” + saka, variant of sœkja “to search;” see seek)

Other 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

  • He refilled his glass, and having looked in his cigarette-case, began to ransack a small cupboard.

    Dope | Sax Rohmer
  • But, in truth, an English world was having cause to ransack the dust-heaps for neglected men of mettle.

  • For full two hours did these partisans of Matilda ransack the abbey, with none to say them nay.

    A Legend of Reading Abbey | Charles MacFarlane
  • The 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 Aimard
  • ransack 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

ransack

/ (ˈrænsæk) /


verb(tr)
  1. to search through every part of (a house, box, etc); examine thoroughly

  2. to plunder; pillage

Origin of ransack

1
C13: from Old Norse rann house + saka to search, seek

Derived 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