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
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Recent Examples of ransack
Cops found no evidence that the store was ransacked and could not tell whether any of the pricey jewelry usually bought and sold there had been taken, police sources said at the time.
—
Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 5 May 2025
Last February, soldiers ransacked Eid’s home and, on finding his life savings in cash, turned him over to the police under suspicion of selling guns or drugs.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
The front door was broken down, some windows smashed — the place had been ransacked.
—Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2025
First, beefy agents from the F.S.B., the federal security service, ransacked his apartment before dawn.
—Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 5 May 2025
Last February, soldiers ransacked Eid’s home and, on finding his life savings in cash, turned him over to the police under suspicion of selling guns or drugs.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
The front door was broken down, some windows smashed — the place had been ransacked.
—Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2025
First, beefy agents from the F.S.B., the federal security service, ransacked his apartment before dawn.
—Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ransack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransack
Verb
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After France fell to Germany, the Nazis requisitioned the museum as a sorting facility for art plundered from French Jewish dealers and citizens disenfranchised by the state.—
Nina Siegal,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
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Some Quebecois housed troops or joined pro-patriot militias; others joined the British in firing muskets and artillery at the men invading their homeland and plundering their homesteads.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 May 2025
Verb
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It had been visited by an investigator, searching for locations where someone may have spotted Chandler around the time of the murders.—
Ruth Chenetz,
CBS News,
31 May 2025
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The city must manage costs — as difficult as that is to do politically — rather than searching for new ways to increase taxes.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
Verb
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On Sunday, the editorial staff of Télé Pluriel in the Delmas 19 neighborhood, said heavily armed gang members had broken through the station’s main barrier sometime during the night and set fire to its premises while also pillaging their offices.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
16 Mar. 2025
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Uh uh, method dressing is forever, at least for Timothée Chalamet—until the next role-of-a-lifetime comes along, or the parcels of Bob Dylan ephemera pillaged from the online auction houses stop coming through the young actor’s door that is.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Fears that a serial killer is at large were reignited by the recent discovery of a body in a Texas lake, where 19 corpses have been found over the past three years.—
Sophie Clark,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 June 2025
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If finding indoor shelter is not an option: Stay away from open fields, hill summits, or ridge tops.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
7 June 2025
Verb
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Paulo Fonseca was sacked in December, while the end of the season saw the club decide to end Sergio Conceicao’s tenure after an eighth-place finish.—
Adam Digby,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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Former Porto head coach Conceicao was sacked after just five months in charge on Thursday following a disappointing eighth place finish in Serie A that saw the club miss out on European qualification for 2025-26.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Verb
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Fifty priceless artifacts looted from Egypt and Pakistan — and trafficked through Manhattan by two notorious antiquities dealers — have been returned to their home countries, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has announced.—
Roni Jacobson,
New York Daily News,
2 June 2025
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Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters that four stores were looted overnight.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 June 2025
Verb
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Anderson prefers to characterize Loewe as a cultural brand rather than a luxury one, finding the latter term despoiled.—
Rebecca Mead,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
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Growth in Africa must be clean, both in terms of generating energy and not despoiling the continent’s landscape and natural resources.—
Jack A. Goldstone,
Foreign Affairs,
18 May 2023
Verb
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Though the police had raided Stonewall Inn and countless others before, the events of June 28, 1969, known as the Stonewall Riots, spearheaded a six-day uprising for LGBTQ+ rights.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
2 June 2025
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Wolves might be about to get raided for a second time.—
Phil Hay
June 2,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ransack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ransack. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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