WordWeb Online

1. Steal goods; take as spoils
   "During the earthquake people ransacked the stores that were deserted by their owners"
   - plunder, despoil, loot, reave [archaic], strip, rifle, pillage, foray
    
2. Search thoroughly
   "They ransacked the area for the missing child"
   - comb

Derived forms: ransacks, ransacking, ransacked

See also: ransacking

Type of: search, take

Encyclopedia: Ransack