Past tense of ransack
regular verb
The past tense of ransack is ransacked. The past participle is also ransacked.
Forms of ransack
| Base form (V1) | ransack /ˈɹænsæk/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | ransacked |
| Past participle (V3) | ransacked |
| Present participle | ransacking |
| Third person singular | ransacks |
Ransacked in a sentence
- He ransacked his memory for a clew to that haunting familiarity.1927 June, William Byron Mowery, “Pirates Of The Muskeg […]. Chapter IV.”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume XCI, number 1, New York, N.Y.: The...
- The robbers ransacked the place, pulling out drawers and opening closets.1934 February 17, “Gunmen Loot Bori's Suite of $2,000 Gems, Bind 3 Hotel Employes; Opera Singer Away”, in The New York Times, New York…. From the entry pull out
- As if it were an everyday occurrence to find a baggie of pills in a ransacked storeroom with a knifed owner next door.2021, Tracey Drew, Knitted and Knifed: (A Humorous & Heart-warming Cozy Mystery), Icon Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 38. From the entry knifed
- I have ransacked official records, reports of trials, and much other documentary evidence without being able to discover a single case of walking the plank.1953, Patrick Pringle, “On the Account”, in Jolly Roger: The Story of the Great Age of Piracy, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications…. From the entry walk the plank
- I've had my cell ransacked, savagely searched, and as a result, had my legal papers stolen and destroyed, allong with what little personal clothing and other personals I had.1982 April 10, Roosevelt Williamson, “Prison Racism and Legal Slavery in America”, in Gay Community News, page 15. From the entry personal
Meaning of ransack
- verb To search (a place, through things, etc.) thoroughly, especially when vigorous and leaving behind a state of disarray.
- verb To search (someone or a place) thoroughly in order to steal something, especially when vigorous and leaving behind a state of disarray; hence, to rob (someone or a place); to plunder.
- verb To search for and steal (something) as plunder.
Questions about the past tense of ransack
- What is the past tense of ransack?
- The past tense of ransack is ransacked.
- What is the past participle of ransack?
- The past participle of ransack is ransacked.
- Is ransack a regular or irregular verb?
- Ransack is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ransack (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of ransack.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/ransack. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.