ransack
verb (used with object)
to search thoroughly or vigorously through (a house, receptacle, etc.).
were ransacking
-
past progressiveof ransack.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Within a few years, Parisian poets and painters were ransacking Japanese packing cases as though the crumpled prints inside were an accidental answer to an occidental prayer.
From Time Magazine Archive
Confederations of mounted nomads from the steppes were ransacking China's northern flank while to the South, Chinese aristocrats tangled with one another.
From Time Magazine Archive
Either something had ignited in the interior of the house; or, since it was isolated and had long been known to be vacant, strolling mischief-makers had broken in and were ransacking it.
From Ted and the Telephone by William F. (William Frederick) Stecher
There were angry people who had lost their portmanteaus, and were ransacking the state-rooms in quest of them, and indolent people who lay on the sofas reading novels and chewing tobacco.
From The Englishwoman in America by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird
They were ransacking the rooms below by the aid of their own lanterns, as I could tell from their assured manner.
From The House of the Whispering Pines by Anna Katharine Green
