ransack

[ran-sak]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ransack ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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.

Nearby words

Origin of ransack

1200–50; Middle English ransaken < Old Norse rannsaka to search, examine (for evidence of crime), equivalent to rann house + saka search (variant of soekja to seek)

Related formsran·sack·er, nounun·ran·sacked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ransack

Chet, while a second reading was going on, commenced to ransack the house.
Three Young Ranchmen|Ralph Bonehill
"Well, let's go up and ransack that old cabin," announced Bonner, starting toward the willows.
The Daughter of Anderson Crow|George Barr McCutcheon
Far and wide his messengers travelled to ransack the world for rare woods and precious metals.
Ancient Man|Hendrik Willem van Loon
The commissaire proceeded, with a hasty hand, as if he wished to get the work quickly over, to ransack drawers and boxes.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427|Various

If you don't ransack the house, at least you ransack your memory, in search for facts that will assist you.
Psychology|Robert S. Woodworth

British Dictionary definitions for ransack

ransack

verb (tr)

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

to plunder; pillage

Derived Formsransacker, noun

Word Origin for ransack

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

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

Word Origin and History for ransack

ransack

mid-13c., from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rannsaka "to pillage," literally "search the house" (especially legally, for stolen goods), from rann "house," from Proto-Germanic *rasnan (c.f. Gothic razn, Old English ærn "house;" see barn) + saka "to search," related to Old Norse soekja "seek" (see seek). Sense influenced by sack (v.). Related: Ransacked; ransacking.