ransacking, vbl. n.
(ˈrænsækɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb ransack.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxiii. 6 Þai waned..of ransakinge. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 60 Be ransakynge of rightwys mens lyfis fro all pryde þi self refreyn. 1579 E. K. Gloss. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct. 65 He came to ransacking of king Darius coffers. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Pol. Touchstone (1674) 262 Naples..is now brought to utter desolation..by the general ransacking of the Vice Roys. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 28 Their Ransackings, Groundings, Dockings, and Repairings. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. i. ii. (1710) 349 (Orkneys) They..make search for the Theft, which is called Ransaking. 1955 H. Roth Sleeper i. 10 What..happened before the ransacking? |