sack
[noun]
Synonyms:
- the sack: dismissal, discharge, the axe (informal), the boot (slang), the push (slang)
[verb]
Synonyms:
- dismiss, axe (informal), discharge, fire (informal), give (someone) the push (informal)
————————
[noun]
Synonyms:
- plundering, looting, pillage
[verb]
Synonyms:
- plunder, loot, pillage, raid, rob, ruin, strip

---

Related Idioms: give one the sack, send packing
Related Words: container, pocket, expel, ship, bump, chuck, forage, raid, strip

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. sack¹ S3 /sæk/ 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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. sack² verb [transitive]
[Sense 1-2,4: Date: 1900-2000; Origin: ⇒ sack¹]
[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 Synonym : 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.

REGISTER
In written and formal British English, people often prefer to use dismiss rather than sack:
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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

sack
noun
I. large bag
ADJ. bulging bulging sacks of toys
hessian, paper, plastic, stuff | flour, mail, potato, refuse
VERB + SACK fill They filled the sacks with potatoes.
put sth in, tie sb/sth (up) in The kittens had been tied up in a sack and thrown in the river.
empty | carry (sth in)
SACK + VERB be filled with sth, be full of sth
PREP. in a/the ~ | ~ of a sack of coal

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sack
II. the sack: dismissal from your job
VERB + SACK get She got the sack after 20 years of service.
give sb | be threatened with, face Hundreds of postal workers are facing the sack.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sack
noun
BAD: When I took the two oranges out of the sack, I discovered that one of them was bad.
GOOD: When I took the two oranges out of the bag, I discovered that one of them was bad.

Usage Note:
sack = a very large strong bag: 'He's hurt his back trying to lift a sack of potatoes.'
bag = a container made of cloth, paper, leather etc: 'Somewhere in this shopping bag there's a bag of sweets.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

sack
̈ɪsæk
See: get the sack at get the bounce(2) , give the sack at give the bounce(2) , hit the hay or hit the sack , leave holding the bag or leave holding the sack

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲