1
as in plundered
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 searched
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 ransacked
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
More than a thousand fires burned, and more than a thousand shops were ransacked.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Pitt's home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles was ransacked by burglars in June when, police said, three suspects broke into his through a front window after jumping over a fence to gain entry to the yard.
—Alex Stone, ABC News, 12 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
Others ransacked the presidential palace and residence with Assad and other top officials gone.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 8 Dec. 2024
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
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
More than a thousand fires burned, and more than a thousand shops were ransacked.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Pitt's home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles was ransacked by burglars in June when, police said, three suspects broke into his through a front window after jumping over a fence to gain entry to the yard.
—Alex Stone, ABC News, 12 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
Others ransacked the presidential palace and residence with Assad and other top officials gone.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 8 Dec. 2024
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransacked
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
-
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
-
Staffers frantically searched for updates on his condition.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker and activist Basel Adra said soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) searched his house in the occupied West Bank after a group of Israeli settlers attacked him, his family members and a foreign activist on Saturday.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Protesters smashed windows and looted local businesses and set government buildings on fire.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
10 Sep. 2025
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Healthcare workers are routinely kidnaped and ambulances targeted and looted.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Best known for its custom furniture and traditional-leaning aesthetic, The Inside, like Havenly, was also female-founded.—
Amanda Lauren,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Ermiya Fanaeian, a transgender woman of color and formerly a diversity director at the University of Utah, founded AQSLC after parting ways with the Pink Pistols, an LGBT organization advocating in support of firearm safety and bearing arms as a means of self-defense.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
17 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
Verb
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Multiple smoke shops in Connecticut that were raided had been caught selling products to minors.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
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The charges come after the FBI in June 2022 raided at least three churches associated with the House of Prayer Christian Churches in Georgia and Texas, established just miles from Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart and Fort Hood.—
Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Buckeyes sacked him four times.—
Cameron Teague Robinson,
New York Times,
14 Sep. 2025
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Mac Jones was strip-sacked in the second quarter for a defensive touchdown, the beginning of the end for the Bill Belichick era.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ransacked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ransacked. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.
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