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

Much of the day resembled a game of cat-and-mouse between protesters and police, with flareups like in Rennes, the capital city of Brittany, northwest France, where a bus was ransacked and set on fire. —Saskya Vandoorne, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025

In 2011, thieves ransacked the Yangs’ house, hunting for their property deed. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025

After a treacherous night in which Daryl had to remove a piece of metal from Carol’s shoulder and the boat was ransacked by equestrians in bull-horn masks, the twosome put the walking back in The Walking Dead. —Charlie Mason, TVLine, 7 Sep. 2025

Protests intensified over the weekend, with rioters targeting the homes of lawmakers, ransacking and looting properties, and burning government buildings, according to media reports. —Anniek Bao, CNBC, 1 Sep. 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