ransack

verb

ran·​sack ˈran-ˌsak 

(ˌ)ran-ˈsak

ransacked; ransacking; ransacks

transitive verb

1

: to look through thoroughly in often a rough way

… he and 15 staff members watched agents ransack the office.

—Christian Caryl et al.

In desperation, I ransacked my refrigerator for something else to whip up.

—Dana Bowen

(figurative) Most novelists ransack their lives for that first novel; it might be called involuntary reporting.

—Tom Wolfe

2

: to search through and steal from in a forceful and damaging way : plunder

Thieves ransacked the house.

Louis XVI was persuaded to risk a navy far from its own shores and to ransack the French arsenals for arms and ammunition …

—C. P. Reynolds

ransacker noun

Did you know?

Ransack carries the image of a house being roughly disarranged, as might happen when you are frantically searching for something. This is appropriate given the word’s origin. Ransack comes, via Middle English, from the Old Norse word rannsaka: the rann in rannsaka means “house”; the second half of rannsaka is what is known as an “ablaut” variant of sœkja, meaning “to seek, search out.” But our modern use of the word isn’t restricted to houses. You can ransack a drawer, a suitcase, or even (by hurriedly looking through it) the contents of a book. Ransack also inspired another English word related to disorder and unsteadiness. A now-obsolete form of ransack, ransackle, gave us our adjective ramshackle, meaning “rickety” or “carelessly or loosely constructed.”

Synonyms

• despoil
• loot
• maraud
• pillage
• plunder
• sack

Examples of ransack in a Sentence

Robbers ransacked the apartment looking for money.

The room had been ransacked.

Recent Examples on the Web

One of them occurred on Oct. 1 and involved $20 in cash being stolen from the church, while another on Oct. 6 resulted in a pastor's office being ransacked and a mason jar full of change being taken, according to the arrest report. —Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024

From repeatedly denigrating Tom’s college girlfriend to basically demanding their unborn child be a girl, and yes, for sure, gleefully ransacking Benji and Amelia’s wedding gifts with zero hesitation. —Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024

But though the home’s master bedroom was ransacked, the assailants never took the hair mogul’s valuable watch on his wrist, piquing the interest of detectives, said then-Robbery Homicide Division Capt. Billy Hayes. —Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2024

After the giant wallops him, Indy wakes up and sees the museum ransacked. —Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ransaken, from Old Norse rannsaka, from rann house + -saka (akin to Old English sēcan to seek) — more at seek

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

ransack

verb

ran·​sack ˈran-ˌsak 

(ˈ)ran-ˈsak

1

: to search thoroughly

2

: to search through in order to rob

ransacker noun