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sacking

 [sak-ing]   Origin

sack·ing

   [sak-ing]
noun
stout, coarse woven material of hemp, jute, or the like, chiefly for sacks.
Also called sackcloth.

Origin:
1580–90; sack1 + -ing1

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Sacking is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

sack

1   [sak]
noun
1.
a large bag of strong, coarsely woven material, as for grain, potatoes, or coal.
2.
the amount a sack holds.
3.
a bag: a sack of candy.
4.
Slang. dismissal or discharge, as from a job: to get the sack.
5.
Slang. bed: I bet he's still in the sack.
EXPAND
6.
Also, sacque.
a.
a loose-fitting dress, as a gown with a Watteau back, especially one fashionable in the late 17th century and much of the 18th century.
b.
a loose-fitting coat, jacket, or cape.
7.
Baseball. a base.
8.
South Midland U.S. the udder of a cow.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
9.
to put into a sack or sacks.
10.
Football. to tackle (the quarterback) behind the line of scrimmage before the quarterback is able to throw a pass.
11.
Slang. to dismiss or discharge, as from a job.
Verb phrase
12.
sack out, Slang. to go to bed; fall asleep.
Idioms
13.
hit the sack, Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep: He never hits the sack before midnight.
14.
hold the sack. bag (def. 26).
Origin:
before 1000; 1940–45 for def. 5; Middle English sak (noun), sakken (v.), Old English sacc (noun) < Latin saccus bag, sackcloth < Greek sákkos < Semitic; compare Hebrew śaq

Related forms
sack·like, adjective

Regional variation note
See bag.

sack

2   [sak]
verb (used with object)
1.
to pillage or loot after capture; plunder: to sack a city.
noun
2.
the plundering of a captured place; pillage: the sack of Troy.
Origin:
1540–50; < Middle French phrase mettre à sac to put to pillage; sac, in this sense < Italian sacco looting, loot, shortened form of saccomano < Middle High German sakman pillager (conformed to sacco sack1)

Synonyms
1. spoil, despoil. See rob. 2. looting; destruction, ruin.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To sacking
Collins
World English Dictionary
sacking (ˈsækɪŋ)
 
—n
coarse cloth used for making sacks, woven from flax, hemp, jute, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sack
"to plunder," 1549, from M.Fr. sac, in the phrase mettre à sac "put it in a bag," a military leader's command to his troops to plunder a city (parallel to It. sacco, with the same range of meaning), from V.L. *saccare "to plunder," originally "to put plundered things into a sack," from L. saccus
EXPAND
"bag" (see sack (n.1)). The notion is probably of putting booty in a bag. This is the root of the verb in the U.S. football sense (1969).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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