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View synonyms for ransack

ransack

[ 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.



ransack

/ ˈrænsæk /

verb

  1. to search through every part of (a house, box, etc); examine thoroughly
  2. to plunder; pillage


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Derived Forms

  • ˈransacker, noun

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Other Words From

  • ransack·er noun
  • un·ransacked adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ransack1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English ransaken, from Old Norse rannsaka “to search, examine (for evidence of crime),” equivalent to rann “house” + saka, variant of sœkja “to search;” seek )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ransack1

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

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Example Sentences

A few hours later, just as rioters were ransacking Congressional offices, Republican state lawmaker Daniel Cox of Maryland tweeted, “Pence is a traitor.”

From Time

Nor was there doubt that rioters had ransacked the second-floor office of the Senate parliamentarian, covering the blue carpeting by the fireplace with papers.

From Time

They ransacked the National Intelligencer newspaper office, with Cockburn ordering the seizure of all the letter C’s from the presses so that the editor could no longer write nasty things about him.

They ransacked offices of senior executives and looted thousands of iPhones and laptops, resulting in $7 million worth of damage and several arrests.

From Quartz

We were ransacking Mongols, held together by scabs and duct tape, looking to pick up girls or get in a fight.

From Ozy

He refilled his glass, and having looked in his cigarette-case, began to ransack a small cupboard.

But, in truth, an English world was having cause to ransack the dust-heaps for neglected men of mettle.

For full two hours did these partisans of Matilda ransack the abbey, with none to say them nay.

The capataz was the last to go, after bending on the unknown one of those glances which ransack the depths of a man's heart.

Ransack your brain, then, and see if you do not find there evidence of what I have stated.

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