1
as in to plunder
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
it was clear that the thieves who had ransacked the museum were professionals—they bypassed most of the exhibits and went straight for the vaults
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to search
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
I've ransacked the whole house for that book you lent me and it's nowhere to be found
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of ransack
The group inside the building ransacked the furniture and at least one person appeared to steal a package before sirens were heard and people rushed back outside.
—
Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Ben goes into Bailey’s room, which looks like someone just ransacked it, looking for a monster hiding under the bed that wasn’t there.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2026
The burglars ransacked both registers and took $1,000 cash, and also broke into the safe, which contained $5,000, Zamudio said.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota, remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.
—February 25, NPR, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Ben goes into Bailey’s room, which looks like someone just ransacked it, looking for a monster hiding under the bed that wasn’t there.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2026
The burglars ransacked both registers and took $1,000 cash, and also broke into the safe, which contained $5,000, Zamudio said.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota, remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.
—February 25, NPR, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransack
Verb
-
Before being definitively plundered, the museum was home to the most comprehensive Nubian archaeological collection in the world.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
17 Mar. 2026
-
The area has been plundered for centuries.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In the aftermath of the shooting, law-enforcement officers searched the defendants’ cars, apartments, and a brick home, affectionately nicknamed the Big Gay House, where some of them lived.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Officers are searching two properties in north London, a few miles from the scene of the attack in Golders Green.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
North Texas — whose roster was pillaged in the portal and saw its top players leave for Oklahoma State alongside former head coach Eric Morris — have signed 42 transfers.—
Shawn McFarland,
Dallas Morning News,
16 Jan. 2026
-
In a landscape of sequels and overly pillaged IP, the Stranger Things finale is finite and close-ended, the credits rolling once and for all.—
Yohana Desta,
Rolling Stone,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Four Fort Worth restaurants were temporarily closed, and roaches were found at others during the latest round of city health inspections, according to the inspection reports.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Mar. 2026
-
When the question was broken down by party affiliation, Democrats were significantly more likely to cross party lines, the 2024 survey found.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
John McGahern was sacked from his teaching job when his novel The Dark was banned by the Irish censorship board.—
Christine Smallwood,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Gastineau accused Favre of taking a dive during a game in 2001 so that New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan could sack him and break Gastineau’s single-season record.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In most academic histories of European imperialism written in this century, the Europeans are the barbarians, killing and raping and looting on an unprecedented scale.—
David A. Bell,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Dan Hicks, a professor of contemporary archaeology at the University of Oxford who studied the FoI responses, told the Guardian that these collections included items looted by British colonial officials and soldiers.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In the 21st century, oil extraction has become a serious threat to Ecuadoran Amazonia, with large swaths of forest, often located in Indigenous territories, despoiled by the release of wastewater from the wells.—
Stanley Stewart,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
-
Decades of despoiling water bodies have taken a terrible toll, filling water bodies with fetid algae that blocks sunlight and smothers the native seagrass beds that are a main food source for manatees.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 June 2025
Verb
-
In 2019, a pair of private poker clubs was raided in Houston.—
Marley Malenfant,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Some of Hadi’s friends have had their homes raided; others have been detained, or have gone missing.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ransack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ransack. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
