ransack
Americanverb (used with object)
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ransacks,
present (3rd person singular)
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ransacked,
past participle, past
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ransacking
present participle
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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.
verb
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to search through every part of (a house, box, etc); examine thoroughly
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to plunder; pillage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ransacksimple
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ransackssimple
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have ransackedperfect
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has ransackedperfect
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am ransackingprogressive
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are ransackingprogressive
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is ransackingprogressive
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have been ransackingperfect progressive
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has been ransackingperfect progressive
Past
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ransackedsimple
-
had ransackedperfect
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was ransackingprogressive
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were ransackingprogressive
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had been ransackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ransack
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)
Explanation
When you ransack, you rifle through things, steal some of them, and leave a huge mess behind. If neighborhood dogs got into a cupcake shop, they would probably ransack it. You can use the verb ransack to describe a careful search — you might ransack your backpack looking for your car keys, for example. Marauding armies, feral cats, burglars, and other troublemakers are often described as ransacking towns, rooms, gardens, or shops, especially if they take things and leave disarray in their wake. The word ransack comes from the Old Norse rannsaka, which has a similar meaning but is literally "search the house."
Vocabulary lists containing ransack
The Diary of Anne Frank
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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English Words Derived from Old Norse
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I just hope you didn’t ransack your college-savings account to do it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Overton’s 32 from 21 balls and Archer’s 17-ball 38 helped the visitors ransack 100 in the last 10 overs, including 21 off the final over.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2024
By that he meant the way representatives from other schools would surely try to lure his players away, using lucrative NIL offers to ransack his team through the transfer portal.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
Thursday’s announcement that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. prompted news organizations the world over to ransack the obituaries they have been keeping in their vaults.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
They were known to ransack other people’s camps, so we never left ours unattended.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
McEwan ransacks recent U.K. history, telescoping its events into a demented counter-factual fantasia marked by insurrection and overflowing garbage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2019
That can be useful when scientists or wildlife managers must relocate an animal, such as a grizzly bear that ransacks campsites for food.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2019
During a peaceful evening at church, someone ransacks the family home and steals their beloved dog.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2018
The radical choreographer Elizabeth Streb has grown weary of meeting people who tell her, “Oh, you’re the one who ransacks the body and runs into walls.”
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 22, 2015
He looks suspiciously around him, turns over his pillows, and ransacks his bedclothes for some fancied object he supposes to be concealed there.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 24 schools had been "burned and ransacked" since the start of the protests.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
When the family stepped inside for the first time since they fled, they found their home had been ransacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Roebuck further discovered that his workshop had been ransacked.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses were ransacked, said residents, some of whom complained of the slow and meager post-quake aid coming from authorities.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
That’s why when he saw this house for sale, on the corner of American Street and Joy Road, he insisted on buying it with the cash from his ransacked and burned-to-the-ground car dealership in Port-au-Prince.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
The pontiff responded by saying he had a "moral duty to speak out" against war -- and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting "tyrants" ransacking the world.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
The World Cup feels like a competition to soak soccer fans, writes columnist Jason Gay, accusing NJ Transit of following FIFA’s ransacking lead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
A Los Angeles city councilmember is calling for more police officers and resources following the latest in a string of robberies and ransacking at 7-Eleven convenience stores.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2024
Most of the ransacking took place on the night that charges against Dial were dismissed, although six arrests were made the following night.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 2, 2023
All night he had been ransacking his desk for his notes on the British monarch of legend, notes hurriedly copied from a hundred-page survey of British history that he had once read in paperback.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
