Meaning

9 senses
  1. (transitive)To search (a place, through things, etc.) thoroughly, especially when vigorous and leaving behind a state of disarray.

    search thoroughly

  2. (transitive)To search (someone or a place) thoroughly in order to steal something, especially when vigorous and leaving behind a state of disarray; hence, to rob (someone or a place); to plunder.

    to ransack a house for valuables

    plündern

  3. (transitive)To search for and steal (something) as plunder.

    steal goods; take as spoils

  4. (intransitive)To search thoroughly, especially when leaving behind a state of disarray.

  5. (archaic, figuratively, transitive)To examine (someone or something) carefully; to investigate; also, to question (someone) thoroughly; to interrogate.

  6. (obsolete, transitive)To look for or seek out (someone).

  7. (obsolete, transitive)To search (someone) for a thing.

  8. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)Synonym of penetrate (“to make way into the interior of (something); to pierce”); also, synonym of pervade (“to enter and spread through (something); to permeate”).

  9. (archaic, intransitive)To search for and steal things.

Examples

23 sentences
  1. Some kids broke into Tom's house and ransacked it.

    Якісь хлопці вломилися до будинку Тома та пограбували його. — deniko

  2. They ransacked our bedroom.

  3. Someone has ransacked the place.

  4. Somebody has ransacked my room.

  5. Tom's office has been ransacked.

Translations

5 languages
Deutsch
By meaning 2
1.1. (transitive) to search thoroughly:
1.2. (transitive) to search in order to steal:

Origin

The verb is derived from Middle English ransaken (“to examine, investigate; to rob, plunde

The verb is derived from Middle English ransaken (“to examine, investigate; to rob, plunder, steal; to search, seek; to treat roughly, mistreat”), from Old Norse rannsaka (“to search a house (especially for stolen goods)”), from rann (“house”) (from Proto-Germanic *razną (“dwelling, house”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to rest; quiet”)) + saka, an ablaut variant of sœkja, sǿkja (“to look for, search, seek”) (from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to look for, seek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to follow; to seek out, trace”)).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

ransacks, ransacking, ransacked, ransacked
Base formransack · to ransack
3rd person singularransacks
Present participleransacking
Past simpleransacked
Past participleransacked

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyransack
he, she, itransacks

Past simpleLesson

all personsransacked

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave ransacked
he, she, ithas ransacked

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill ransack

Synonyms

14 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

4 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
ransack — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto