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
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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.
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Recent Examples of ransack
One Stop Sales, located about 18 miles east of Los Angeles, was completely ransacked during the break-in, according to the owners and authorities.
—
Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
The demonstrations, some of the largest in American history, recalled the long hot summer of 1967, when protesters whose lives had only been meagerly improved by recent civil-rights legislation ransacked storefronts in Newark and Detroit.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
On July 10, Kaye and Deluca returned from afternoon grocery shopping to discover someone ransacking their house, investigators later determined.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 31 July 2025
Last year, one of its stores in Hull, a port city on the northeast coast, was ransacked amid far-right, anti-immigrant protests.
—Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2025
The demonstrations, some of the largest in American history, recalled the long hot summer of 1967, when protesters whose lives had only been meagerly improved by recent civil-rights legislation ransacked storefronts in Newark and Detroit.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
On July 10, Kaye and Deluca returned from afternoon grocery shopping to discover someone ransacking their house, investigators later determined.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 31 July 2025
Last year, one of its stores in Hull, a port city on the northeast coast, was ransacked amid far-right, anti-immigrant protests.
—Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransack
Verb
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The towns of Harrisonville, Butler and Osceola were plundered during Bleeding Kansas.—
Quentin Corpuel,
Kansas City Star,
6 Sep. 2025
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These will hold a particular interest for the Bloomsbury enthusiast because the majority of them are previously unpublished (an impressive feat, given how often the various archives have been plundered by other biographers).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Every bag and piece of equipment that comes through security on Sunday will be scanned and thoroughly searched.—
Adam Zagoria,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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To search the restaurant inspections, type in a keyword or restaurant name.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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At the same time, members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition had pillaged and/or burned at least 410 residences and other buildings, including six schools, health centers and local nongovernmental organizations during the period.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
11 Aug. 2025
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After the Broncos’ frontmen pillaged San Francisco for the better part of two hours, Castle Rock native and 49er Christian McCaffrey stood in front of reporters and confirmed what Denver’s offense has known for a few months.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In each case, magistrate judges had already found probable cause to proceed with the charges forward, yet jurors opted not to return indictments.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Ease off the accelerator - Step off the gas to slow down the vehicle until the tires find traction.—
KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT,
Kansas City Star,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Two days after that, Bayer Leverkusen sacked Erik ten Hag.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
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His parting vision of her funeral pyre both recalls and anticipates the devastated city of Carthage, sacked by Rome.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In another recent Italian discovery, archaeologists found an Etruscan tomb around 30 miles north of Rome – an unusual find that hadn't been looted.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
4 Sep. 2025
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Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.—
Rabih Alameddine
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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Gaddis was an obscure state employee who was fired from his job last summer after leaking details of a secret plot by the DeSantis administration to despoil nine pristine Florida state parks with golf courses, pickleball courts and resort-style lodges — all to benefit his wealthy friends.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
17 June 2025
Verb
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Jordan Garcia, a veteran community organizer with the Colorado branch of the American Friends Service Committee, travelled to Cedar Run, one of the Denver housing complexes that was raided, to record video and provide assistance.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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Private equity firms have long cultivated a reputation for raiding Wall Street’s analyst pool, to the point where investment banks had to establish stronger boundaries recently.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ransack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ransack. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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