rucksack
Americannoun
-
rucksacks
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rucksack
1890–95; < German: literally, back sack
Explanation
A rucksack is another name for a backpack or knapsack. On the first day of school, you might load up your rucksack with new notebooks and sharp pencils. Depending on where you live (and possibly, how old you are), you might call a rucksack a bookbag, a sackpack, or a kitpack. However you say it, it's a bag with shoulder straps that's designed to be carried on your back. Rucksack is originally a German word, from the Alpine-German dialect word Rück, "the back," and Sack, "large bag."
Vocabulary lists containing rucksack
A Monster Calls
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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Between Shades of Gray
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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:
Near the body were personal items - a rucksack, coins, including one dated 1977, fragments of a Sun newspaper from 1978.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
After being stopped in the international arrivals area, Lyons - who was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and carrying a rucksack - was handed over to I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Area Resort Police.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
"It was indescribably nice, as if you've been hiking for a weekend with a massive rucksack - then you take the rucksack off and you feel you can float."
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025
Mary-Jane was thrown to the ground but her rucksack strap was round one of the cow's legs and she was dragged along the ground.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025
I think about my ma’s book, still in my rucksack.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
Groups of all ages converged on the city centre to the sound of drums and guitars, with hardy pilgrims lugging rucksacks and camping material on their backs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
Men, women and children carried their belongings in plastic bags, shopping bags and rucksacks.
From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2023
Key examples are body armor, helmets and rucksacks that are often too big for female soldiers and small-stature men.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
At ATC Pirbright officials found women recruits were not always given properly fitting trousers and shirts, and were at increased risk of injury due to ill-fitting equipment such as webbing and rucksacks.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2022
Ampai sent the big man, Yai, back into the alley to retrieve their rucksacks.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
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.
