I. ˈsak noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sak sack, bag, sackcloth, from Old English sacc, sæcc; akin to Middle Dutch & Old High German sac sack, bag, Old Norse sekkr sack, bag, Gothic sakkus sackcloth; all from a prehistoric Germanic word borrowed from Latin saccus sack, bag & Late Latin saccus sackcloth; Latin saccus & Late Latin saccus both from Greek sakkos sack, bag, sackcloth, of Semitic origin; akin to Hebrew śaq sack, bag, sackcloth
1.
a. : a large usually rectangular bag of coarse strong material (as canvas or burlap) used to store and ship goods (as grain, fruit, coal)
b. : a small container made of paper, plastic, or other similar material used to contain various kinds of merchandise (as foodstuffs) ; specifically : a paper bag
c. : a canvas bag for holding mail (as parcel post or second or third class mail) — called also mail sack
2. archaic : sackcloth , sacking
3.
a. : a sack with its contents
b. : the amount contained in a sack ; especially : such an amount as fixed for a certain commodity (as flour, wool) and sometimes used as a unit of measure
4. : the punishment (as in ancient Rome) whereby an offender is sewn in a sack and drowned — used with the
5.
a. : a woman's loose-fitting dress ; specifically : a gown or overdress of the late 17th and early 18th centuries often made with a Watteau back
b. : a short coat or jacket usually loose-fitting and made in outdoor and indoor styles for women and children — see dressing sack
c. : sacque 2
d. : sack coat
6.
a. : dismissal — usually used with get or give
an employee who gets the sack
b. : rejection — usually used with get or give
she gave the sack to successive suitors
7.
a. : hammock , bunk
b. : bed
8. : a base in the game of baseball
9. : sac 1
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English sakken, from sak, n.
1. : to put or place in a sack (as for storage or shipment)
sack potatoes in the field
sack corn
2. archaic : to kill (as a condemned person) by drowning within a sewn-up sack
3. : to carry off : gain
sack an enormous profit
— sometimes used with up
4. : to dismiss (as from employment) especially summarily
sack a dilatory worker
Synonyms: see dismiss
•
- sack the rear
- sack the slide
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: modification of Middle French sec dry (in vin sec dry wine), from Latin siccus; akin to Old English sīon, sēon to strain, filter, Old High German sīhan, Old Norse sīa to strain, filter, Greek hikmas moisture, Sanskrit secate he pours
: a usually dry white wine imported to England from the south of Europe (as from Jerez, Spain, and the Canary islands) during the 16th and 17th centuries
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French sac, from Old Italian sacco, literally, bag, from Latin saccus — more at sack I
1. : the plundering or looting of a captured town by its conquerors
a city put to the sack
the sack of Rome
2. : plunder , loot
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to plunder (as a town) after capture
2. : to strip (as an overpowered person or unprotected building) of valuables : loot
Synonyms: see ravage