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

• plunder
• pillage
• sack
• loot
• despoil
• raid

Examples of ransack in a Sentence

Robbers ransacked the apartment looking for money.

The room had been ransacked.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Rockefeller Wing features several dozen—a rooster with filigreed plumage, the famous mask depicting a queen mother, and plaques that once adorned the kingdom’s royal palace, which British troops ransacked and burned in 1897. —Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025

After a den of thieves ransacked a rural Northern California home so many times that the owner fled in fear, the property fell into even wilder hands: a group of bears, authorities said. —Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025

Actor Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles home was ransacked and robbed in a late-night burglary. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 27 June 2025

Three suspects broke in via the front window, ransacked the location, and fled with miscellaneous property, police tell EW. —Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 26 June 2025

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

Rhymes for ransack

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback

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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