to ransack

Examples

• All

• Upon his return on Friday, July 17, he found that his home had been ransacked and pillaged.

  Academic text (2005)

• - They've been ransacking people's homes... ...and mugging them in broad daylight.

  Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)

• Now, they break in and ransack the joint.

  The Utah Cabin Murders (2019)

• Why would she ransack you?

  Illegally Yours (1988)

• Did you ransack a greenhouse?

  The Great Gatsby (2013)

• Yeah, I'm just going to ransack the more bit and hopefully find some stuff.

• Ransack them, fast and thorough.

  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

• We're gonna make it look as if the place is ransacked.

  Bachelorette (2012)

• Her personal possessions had been ransacked, and anything of value stolen.

  Fiction book (1992)

• Liam bounced all around the room, ransacking it for a weapon.

  Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

R

to rifle

vsto ransack

8 6.7

To search quickly and carelessly through places like drawers to steal things

is rougher and focuses on disorder and damage rather than theft

T

to trawl

vsto ransack

4 4.6

To search carefully through a large area or collection

is rougher and creates disorder rather than systematic searching

R

to root about

vsto ransack

• UK

7.0

To search through a place or container in a messy way

is rougher and more likely to cause damage or major disorder

F

to ferret around

vsto ransack

• Informal

7.4

To search carefully through things in a small place like a bag or box

is rougher and more likely to make a place messy or damaged

Antonyms

O

to organize

• US

662 1.6

Arrange people, things, and activities so they work well

T

to tidy

42 1.0

To make a place neat by putting things away

How Thorough

to ransack

38 6.3

to rummage

35 3.8

to search

∞ 1.0

to scan

127 2.7

Surface Forms

Etymology