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Webster 1913 Edition

Sack

Sack

(săk)
,
Noun.
[OE.
seck
, F.
sec
dry (cf. Sp.
seco
, It.
secco
), from L.
siccus
dry, harsh; perhaps akin to Gr.
ἰσχνός
, Skr.
sikata
sand, Ir.
sesc
dry, W.
hysp
. Cf.
Desiccate
.]
A name formerly given to various dry Spanish wines.
“Sherris sack.”
Shak.
Sack posset
,
a posset made of sack, and some other ingredients.

Sack

,
Noun.
[OE.
sak
,
sek
, AS.
sacc
,
saecc
, L.
saccus
, Gr.
σάκκοσ
from Heb.
sak
; cf. F.
sac
, from the Latin. Cf.
Sac
,
Satchel
,
Sack
to plunder.]
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 garment 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
sack
.
[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.

Sack

,
Verb.
T.
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.
[F.
sac
plunder, pillage, originally, a pack, packet, booty packed up, fr. L.
saccus
. See
Sack
a bag.]
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

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sacked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sacking
.]
[See
Sack
pillage.]
To plunder or pillage, as a town or city; to devastate; to ravage.
The Romans lay under the apprehensions of seeing their city
sacked
by a barbarous enemy.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sack

SACK

,
Noun.
[L. saccus. Heb. See the verb to sack.]
1.
A bag, usually a large cloth bag, used for holding and conveying corn, small wares, wool, cotton, hops, and the like. Gen 42.
Sack of wool, in England, is 22 stone of 14lb. each, or 308 pounds. In Scotland, it is 24 stone of 16 pounds each, or 384 pounds.
A sack of cotton, contains usually about 300lb. but it may be from 150 to 400 pounds.
Sack of earth, in fortification, is a canvas bag filled with earth, used in making retrenchments in haste.
2.
The measure of three bushels.

SACK

,
Noun.
A species of sweet wine, brought chiefly from the Canary isles.

SACK

,
Noun.
[L. sagum, whence Gr. But the word is Celtic or Teutonic.]
Among our rude ancestors, a kind of cloak of a square form, worn over the shoulders and body, and fastened in from by a clasp or thorn. It was originally made of skin, afterwards of wool. In modern times, this name has been given to a woman's garment, a gown with loose plaits on the back; but no garment of this kind is now worn, and the word is in disuse. [See Varro, Strabo, Cluver, Bochart.]

SACK

,
Verb.
T.
To put in a sac or in bags.

SACK

,
Verb.
T.
[From comparing this word and sack, a bag, in several languages, it appears that they are both from one root, and that the primary sense is to strain, pull, draw; hence sack, a bag, is a tie, that which is tied or drawn together; and sack, to pillage, is to pull, to strip, that is, to take away by violence.]
To plunder or pillage, as a town or city. Rome was twice taken and sacked in the reign of one pope. This word is never, I believe, applied to the robbing of persons, or pillaging of single houses, but to the pillaging of towns and cities; and as towns are usually or often sacked, when taken by assault, the word may sometimes include the sense of taking by storm.
The Romans lay under the apprehension of seeing their city sacked by a barbarous enemy.

SACK

,
Noun.
The pillage or plunder of a town or city; or the storm and plunder of a town; as the sack of Troy.

Definition 2024

Sack

Sack

See also: sack and säck

German

Noun

Sack m ‎(genitive Sacks or Sackes, plural Säcke, diminutive Säckchen n or Säcklein n or Säckle n or Sackerl n)

  1. A sack; a large bag made of fabric
  2. (informal) The sack; a synonym for Hodensack ‎(“scrotum”)

Usage notes

Additional, more diminutive forms include western German Säckelchen and Austro-Bavarian Sackerl. (The latter also means shopping bag in Austrian standard German.)

Derived terms

sack

sack

See also: Sack and säck

English

Noun

sack ‎(plural sacks)

  1. A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodities, such as potatoes, coal, coffee; or, a bag with handles used at a supermarket, a grocery sack; or, a small bag for small items, a satchel.
  2. The amount a sack holds; also, an archaic or historical measure of varying capacity, depending on commodity type and according to local usage; an old English measure of weight, usually of wool, equal to 13 stone (182 pounds), or in other sources, 26 stone (364 pounds).
    • The American sack of salt is 215 pounds; the sack of wheat, two bushels. — McElrath.
    • 1843, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. 27, page 202
      Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6 1/2 tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. [...] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 4, page 209
      Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stone.
  3. (uncountable) The plunder and pillaging of a captured town or city.
    The sack of Rome.
  4. (uncountable) Loot or booty obtained by pillage.
  5. (American football) A successful tackle of the quarterback. See verb sense3 below.
  6. (baseball) One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base.
    He twisted his ankle sliding into the sack at second.
  7. (informal) Dismissal from employment, or discharge from a position, usually as give (someone) the sack or get the sack. See verb sense4 below.
    The boss is gonna give her the sack today.
    He got the sack for being late all the time.
  8. (colloquial, US) Bed; usually as hit the sack or in the sack. See also sack out.
  9. (dated) (also sacque) A kind of loose-fitting gown or dress with sleeves which hangs from the shoulders, such as a gown with a Watteau back or sack-back, fashionable in the late 17th to 18th century; or, formerly, a loose-fitting hip-length jacket, cloak or cape.
  10. (dated) A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam.
  11. (vulgar, slang) The scrotum.
    He got passed the ball, but it hit him in the sack.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

sack ‎(third-person singular simple present sacks, present participle sacking, simple past and past participle sacked)

  1. To put in a sack or sacks.
    Help me sack the groceries.
  2. To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders.
  3. To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from.
    The barbarians sacked Rome.
  4. (American football) To tackle, usually to tackle the offensive quarterback behind the line of scrimmage before he is able to throw a pass.
    • 1995, John Crumpacker and Gwen Knapp, "Sack-happy defensive line stuns Dolphins", SFGate.com, November 21,
      On third down, the rejuvenated Rickey Jackson stormed in over All-Pro left tackle Richmond Webb to sack Marino yet again for a 2-yard loss.
  5. (informal) To discharge from a job or position; to fire.
    He was sacked last September.
  6. (colloquial) In the phrase sack out, to fall asleep. See also hit the sack.
    The kids all sacked out before 9:00 on New Year’s Eve.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From earlier (wyne) seck, from Middle French (vin) sec ‎(“dry (wine)”), from Latin siccus ‎(“dry”)

Noun

sack ‎(plural sacks)

  1. (dated) A variety of light-colored dry wine from Spain or the Canary Islands; also, any strong white wine from southern Europe; sherry.
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
      Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack? ...I ne'er drank sack in my life...
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1
      Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack...let a cup of sack be my poison...Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and drink it?
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2
      How didst thou 'scape? How cam'st thou hither? swear / by this bottle how thou cam'st hither—I escaped upon / a butt of sack, which the sailors heaved overboard, by / this bottle! [...]
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 3

Verb

sack ‎(third-person singular simple present sacks, present participle sacking, simple past and past participle sacked)

  1. Alternative spelling of sac

Noun

sack ‎(plural sacks)

  1. Alternative spelling of sac

See also

Anagrams

Etymology

From Old High German sac

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ak

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