I. sack 1 S3 /sæk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sacc , from Latin saccus , from Greek sakkos 'bag, sackcloth' ]
1 .
a) a large bag made of strong rough cloth or strong paper, used for storing or carrying flour, coal, vegetables etc
sack of
a sack of potatoes
b) ( also sackful ) the amount that a sack can contain
sack of
We need about a sack of rice.
2 . the sack British English informal when someone is dismissed from their job:
They’ve never actually given anyone the sack.
He got the sack for stealing.
She claimed she’d been threatened with the sack.
3 . hit the sack old-fashioned informal to go to bed:
It’s one o'clock – time to hit the sack.
4 . in the sack informal in bed – used to talk about sexual activity:
I bet she’s great in the sack.
5 . the sack of something formal a situation in which an army goes through a place, destroying or stealing things and attacking people:
the sack of Rome in 1527
II. sack 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Sense 1-2,4: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ sack 1 ]
[ Sense 3: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: sack 'destruction of and stealing from a town' (16-21 centuries) , from French sac ( ⇨ ↑ sac ), in the phrase mettre A sac 'put in the bag' , from Italian mettere a sacco ]
1 . British English informal to dismiss someone from their job SYN fire :
They couldn’t sack me – I’d done nothing wrong.
sack somebody from something
He was sacked from every other job he had.
sack somebody for (doing) something
He was sacked for being drunk.
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In written and formal British English, people often prefer to use dismiss rather than sack :
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People can be dismissed for misusing the Internet at work.
2 . to knock down the ↑ quarterback in American football
3 . if soldiers sack a place, they go through it destroying or stealing things and attacking people:
The Goths sacked Rome.
sack out phrasal verb American English
informal to go to sleep:
He sacked out on the sofa.