ransack

verb

ran·​sack ˈran-ˌsak How to pronounce ransack (audio)
(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.”

Examples of ransack in a Sentence

Robbers ransacked the apartment looking for money. The room had been ransacked.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Black bears have also entered homes and even ransacked kitchens looking for food. Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 1 Mar. 2025 In the days following her editorial, many white journalists called for her lynching and a white mob ransacked and destroyed her newspaper office. Amy Gais / Made By History, TIME, 27 Feb. 2025 The break-in of their Los Angeles residence on Friday included ransacking and breaking glass, the source said. Andrew Blankstein, NBC News, 19 Feb. 2025 At that time, protesters in Turkey ransacked the Thai Consulate in Istanbul, and the police in the capital, Ankara, used pepper spray to push back Uyghurs trying to break through a barricade outside the Chinese Embassy. Nyrola Elimä, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for ransack

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of ransack was in the 13th century

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Cite this Entry

“Ransack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ransack. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

ransack

verb
ran·​sack ˈran-ˌsak How to pronounce ransack (audio)
(ˈ)ran-ˈsak
1
: to search thoroughly
2
: to search through in order to rob
ransacker noun

More from Merriam-Webster on ransack

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