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ransack - 6 dictionary results
ran⋅sack
[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. |
Origin:
1200–50; ME ransaken < ON rannsaka to search, examine (for evidence of crime), equiv. to rann house + saka search (var. of soekja to seek )
1200–50; ME ransaken < ON rannsaka to search, examine (for evidence of crime), equiv. to rann house + saka search (var. of soekja to seek )
Related forms:
ran⋅sack⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To ransack
| ran·sack (rān'sāk') tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks
[Middle English ransaken, from Old Norse rannsaka : rann, house + *saka, to search, seek; see sāg- in Indo-European roots.] ran'sack'er n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Ransack
Ran"sack\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ransacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Ransacking.] [OE. ransaken, Icel, rannsaka to explore, examine; rann a house (akin to Goth. razn house, AS. r[ae]sn plank, beam) + the root of s[ae]kja to seek, akin to E. seek. See Seek, and cf. Rest repose.]1. To search thoroughly; to search every place or part of; as, to ransack a house. To ransack every corner of their . . . hearts. --South. 2. To plunder; to pillage completely. Their vow is made To ransack Troy. --Shak. 3. To violate; to ravish; to defiour. [Obs.] Rich spoil of ransacked chastity. --Spenser.Ransack
Ran"sack\, v. i. To make a thorough search. To ransack in the tas [heap] of bodies dead. --Chaucer.Ransack
Ran"sack\, n. The act of ransacking, or state of being ransacked; pillage. [R.] Even your father's house Shall not be free fromransack. --J. Webster.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ransack
Spanish:
registrar, revolver,
German:
durchwühlen,
Japanese:
くまなく探す
ransack
c.1250, from O.N. rannsaka "to pillage," lit. "search the house" (especially legally, for stolen goods), from rann "house," from P.Gmc. *rasnan (c.f. Goth. razn, O.E. ærn "house") + saka "to search," related to O.N. soekja "seek" (see seek). Sense influenced by sack (v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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