ransack

[ran-sak]

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.

ransack

/ ˈrænsæk /

verb

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

2. to plunder; pillage

Other Word Forms

• ransacker noun
• unransacked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ransack¹

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;” seek )

Word History and Origins

Origin of ransack¹

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

Example Sentences

Or you could ransack a grocery store for supplies and a shelf could fall on you and send you to the hospital.

Read more on Literature

Indoors, rooms that had been neat and orderly five minutes earlier looked like they had been ransacked.

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One baby ransacked her belongings, another clung to her for months as a surrogate mother.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Verres ransacked Sicily’s Greek temples and pillaged the homes of Roman citizens.

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All but about six of the kibbutz’s 222 homes were invaded and ransacked.

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Related Words

• comb 
• gut 
• loot 
• pillage 
• plunder 
• raid 
• rob 
• scour 
• seize 
• take away