sack Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
    carrier bag; poke; paper bag.
  2. noun an enclosed space
    sac; pocket; pouch.
    • the trapped miners found a pocket of air
  3. noun the quantity contained in a sack
    sackful.
  4. noun any of various light dry strong white wine from Spain and Canary Islands (including sherry)
  5. noun a woman's full loose hiplength jacket
    sacque.
  6. noun a hanging bed of canvas or rope netting (usually suspended between two trees); swings easily
    hammock.
  7. noun a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist
    shift; chemise.
  8. noun the plundering of a place by an army or mob; usually involves destruction and slaughter
    • the sack of Rome
  9. noun the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)
    sacking; dismissal; firing; liberation; release; discharge; dismission.
  10. verb plunder (a town) after capture
    plunder.
    • the barbarians sacked Rome
  11. verb terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position
    give the axe; send away; give the sack; fire; dismiss; terminate; displace; give notice; force out; can.
    • The boss fired his secretary today
    • The company terminated 25% of its workers
  12. verb make as a net profit
    clear; net; sack up.
    • The company cleared $1 million
  13. verb put in a sack
    • The grocer sacked the onions

WordNet

Sack noun
Etymology
OE. seck, F. sec dry (cf. Sp. seco, It secco), from L. siccus dry, harsh; perhaps akin to Gr. , Skr. sikata sand, Ir. sesc dry, W. hysp. Cf. Desiccate.
Definitions
  1. A anme formerly given to various dry Spanish wines. "Sherris sack." Shak.
Sack noun
Etymology
OE. sak, sek, AS. sacc, sæcc, L. saccus, Gr. from Heb. sak; cf. F. sac from the Latin. Cf. Sac, Satchel, Sack to plunder.
Definitions
  1. A bag for holding and carrying goods of any kind; a receptacle made of some kind of pliable material, as cloth, leather, and the like; a large pouch.
  2. A measure of varying capacity, according to local usage and the substance. The American sack of salt is 215 pounds; the sack of wheat, two bushels. McElrath.
  3. Perhaps a different word. Originally, a loosely hanging garnment for women, worn like a cloak about the shoulders, and serving as a decorative appendage to the gown; now, an outer garment with sleeves, worn by women; as, a dressing saek. Written also sacque.
  4. A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam.
  5. (Biol.) See 2d Sac, 2. 6. [Colloq.] Bed.
Sack transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To put in a sack; to bag; as, to sack corn.
    Bolsters sacked in cloth, blue and crimson. L. Wallace.
  2. To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders. Colloq.
Sack noun
Etymology
F. sac plunder, pillage, originally, a pack, packet, booty packed up, fr. L. saccus. See Sack a bag.
Definitions
  1. the pillage or plunder, as of a town or city; the storm and plunder of a town; devastation; ravage.
    The town was stormed, and delivered up to sack, -- by which phrase is to be understood the perpetration of all those outrages which the ruthless code of war allowed, in that age, on the persons and property of the defenseless inhabitants, without regard to sex or age. Prescott.
Sack transitive verb
Etymology
See Sack pillage.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Sacked ; present participle & verbal noun Sacking
Definitions
  1. To plunder or pillage, as a town or city; to devastate; to ravage.
    The Romans lay under the apprehension of seeing their city sacked by a barbarous enemy. Addison.

Webster 1913