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

Less than 12 months ago, the Canucks were ransacking the New York metropolitan area and looking like the Harlem Globetrotters. —Thomas Drance, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025

It had been ransacked and there was only a tiny bit of oil to light the lamps. —Philip Pacheco, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2024

Some of the fighters along with civilians began ransacking his official residences. —Sophie Tanno, CNN, 9 Dec. 2024

The new Identity Check feature is similar to the excellent protection features Apple introduced earlier in the year, designed to prevent someone who has access to your passcode, for instance, from taking over your iPhone, changing your biometric data and then ransacking your digital life. —David Phelan, Forbes, 5 Dec. 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