RANSACK

comb, ransack

(verb) search thoroughly; “They combed the area for the missing child”

plunder, despoil, loot, reave, strip, rifle, ransack, pillage, foray

(verb) steal goods; take as spoils; “During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

ransack (third-person singular simple present ransacks, present participle ransacking, simple past and past participle ransacked)

(transitive) To loot or pillage. See also sack.

(transitive) To make a vigorous and thorough search of (a place, person) with a view to stealing something, especially when leaving behind a state of disarray.

(archaic) To examine carefully; to investigate.

To violate; to ravish; to deflower.

Noun

ransack (plural ransacks)

Eager search.

Anagrams

• rackans

Source: Wiktionary


Ran"sack, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ransacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Ransacking.] Etym: [OE. ransaken, Icel, rannsaka to explore, examine; rann a house (akin to Goth. razn house, AS. ræsn plank, beam) + the root of sækja 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.

Ran"sack, v. i.

Definition: To make a thorough search. To ransack in the tas [heap] of bodies dead. Chaucer.

Ran"sack, n.

Definition: The act of ransacking, or state of being ransacked; pillage. [R.] Even your father's house Shall not be free fromransack. J. Webster.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 December 2024

OBLIGATE

(adjective) restricted to a particular condition of life; “an obligate anaerobe can survive only in the absence of oxygen”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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