ransack

Pronunciation: /ˈɹænsæk/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb steal goods; take as spoils
  2. verb search thoroughly

Etymology

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”)). Verb senses 1.2 (“to search (someone, or a place) thoroughly in order to steal something”), 1.3 (“to search for and steal (something) as plunder”), and 2.2 (“to search for and steal things”) are probably influenced by sack (“to pillage, to plunder”). The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Middle Low German rānsāken, rantsāken * Old Danish randsage, ransage (modern Danish ransage) * Old Swedish ransaka (modern Swedish rannsaka)

In classic literature

Synonyms

plunder, despoil, loot, reave, strip, rifle, pillage, foray

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
take
Narrower (hyponyms)
deplume

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