| 释义 |
▪ I. sack, n.1|sæk|
Forms: 1 sacc, sæcc, 3–4 sac, seck(e, (3 sec, 6 north. seik), 3–6 sakke, 3–7 sacke, 4–5 sak, sekke, 4–6 sek, (5 sac, cek, sache, sake, saccke, Sc. secke, 7 Sc. seck), 5– sack.
[OE. sacc masc., ad. L. sacc-us bag, sack, sackcloth (F. sac, from 11–12th c., Pr. sac, Sp., Pg. saco, It. sacco), a. Gr. σάκκος, ad. Heb. (? Phœnician) saq = Jewish Aramaic saq, saqqā, Syriac saq, saqå, Assyrian saqqu. The word appears in most of the Teut. langs.: Goth. sakkus sackcloth is prob. from Greek, but in the other langs. the proximate source is Latin: MDu. sak (Du. zak), OHG. sac, sach, acc. pl. secchi (MHG. sac, mod.G. sack bag), ON. sekk-r sack (Sw. säkk, Da. sæk). The ON. and some of the OHG. forms, and perh. the OE. sæcc (confined to the sense ‘sackcloth’) indicate a prehistoric type *sakki-z: cf. med.L. ‘saccia, σάκκος’ in a Lat.-Gr. glossary.
The word is found also as Irish and Gael. sac, Welsh sach, Hungarian zsak, Russian sak', Polish, Czech, Serbian, Albanian sak, which are all directly or indirectly from the Latin or Greek.]
I.
1. a. A large bag oblong in shape and open at one end, usually made of coarse flax or hemp, used for the storing and conveyance of corn, flour, fruit, potatoes, wood, coal, etc.
c1000ælfric Gen. xlii. 25 He..bead his þeᵹnum þæt hiᵹ fyldon hira saccas mid hwæte. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2223 Quan men ðo seckes ðor un-bond, And in ðe coren ðo aȝtes fond. a1300Cursor M. 5090 Your seckes sal i fil o gift. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 195 (Dido) Sakkes ful of gold. c1440Promp. Parv. 64/1 Cek, or Cekclothe, or poke, saccus. 14..Tretyce in W. of Henley's Husb. (1890) 50 To kepe þe corne þat falithe when it is put into þe sekkis. a1529Skelton Bk. 3 Foles Wks. 1843 I. 200 Pecunyous fooles, that..weddeth these olde wyddred women, whych hath sackes full of nobles. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 176 Good huswifes be mending and peecing their sackes. 1753Scots Mag. Aug. 421/2 Five men in sacks run for a guinea. 1840Hood Up the Rhine 222 What do you think, Margaret, of having your head caught in a baker's sack, hot from the oven [as a cure for a ‘blight in the eyes’]. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 63 The younger people.., With bag and sack and basket.., Went nutting.
b. With reference to the punishment of drowning in a sack. the sack: the punishment (awarded in ancient Rome to a parricide) of being sewn in a sack and drowned.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andreas) 211 Þe Iuge..gert bynd þe ȝounge man rath, and put hym in a sek to mere. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 956 And if I do that lakke Do strepe me and put me in a sakke And in the nexte ryuer do me drenche. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlii. 87 Gud Fame wes drownit in a sek. 1538Elyot Dict. Add. s.v. Culeus. 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor., Clemency (1696) 441 Caligula, in five years condemn'd more People to the Sack, then ever were before him. 1820Scott Monast. x, Didst thou think me fool enough to wait till thou hadst betrayed me to the sack and the fork!
c. transf. and fig.
a1300Sarmun in E.E.P. (1862) 2 Þi felle wiþ-oute nis bot a sakke. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 12791 Ther Sak, ther wombe, (I vndertake,) Off hem ther goddys they do make. 1559Mirr. Mag., Edw. IV, vi, A man is but a sacke of stercory. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 45 Although perchance the sack of his owne faults, lye so behinde hys back. [Cf. sacket, quot. 1549.]
†d. (See quots.) Cf. woolsack. Obs.
1539Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 10 §8 Suche of them as shall happen to be under the saide degree of a Baron, shall sitt..at the uppermost parte of the sakkes in the middes of the saide Parliament Chamber. 1577Harrison England ii. viii. (1877) i. 174 In the middest [of the House of Lords]..lie certeine sackes stuffed with wooll or haire, whereon the judges of the realme, the master of the rols, and secretaries of estate doo sit.
†e. sack and seam: pack-horse traffic. Obs.
1631in N. Riding Rec. (1885) III. ii. 312 [Two yeomen presented for stopping up the King's highway for] sacke and seame. 1829Brockett N.C. Words (ed. 2), Sack-and-seam-road, a horse road—properly a pack-horse road over moors.
f. Criminals' slang. A pocket.
1699B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew, Sack,..a Pocket. 1858A. S. Mayhew Paved with Gold iii. iii. 265 I've brought a couple of bene coves, with lots of the Queen's pictures in their sacks. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 125 Rarely one hears the side coat pocket called a sack.
g. (a) A hammock; a bunk; (b) a bed; freq. as the sack; to hit the sack: see hit v. 11 c. slang (chiefly U.S.; orig. Naval).
1829Sailors & Saints II. iv. 92 There was no more to do, nor hand him below, and bundle him into his sack. 1883Melton & Oliphant Cruise of U.S.S. Galena 48 We were congratulating ourselves that the drills were over and retired to our ‘dreaming sacks’. 1942Chevron 17 Jan. 4/3 Sack, bunk. 1943, etc. [see hit v. 11 c]. 1947Reef Points 1947–48 (U.S. Naval Acad., Annapolis) 219 Flake out, to utilize one's sack between Reveille and Taps. 1950‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai vi. 41 The first time I came on board you were lying in your goddam sack. 1952in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 439/2 Let me stay in the sack all day. 1963‘E. McBain’ Ten Plus One xv. 194 Helen seems to think a little more than necking took place... She seems to think you all crawled into the sack. 1968J. Updike Couples ii. 168 Women with that superheated skin are usually fantastic in the sack. 1977I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief iii. x. 342 Probably in the sack, he thought, with that fellow with the beard.
h. A bag, large or small, made of paper or the like; paper sack: see paper n. 12. U.S.
1904, etc. [see paper n. 12]. 1928Dialect Notes VI. 60 A paper bag is always a sack or a poke, since bag means scrotum in the hill country. 1933Collier's 28 Jan. 8/1 While he is at the ball game, he buys himself a sack of Harry Stevens' peanuts. 1956B. Holiday Lady Sings Blues (1973) viii. 77, I got so tired of scenes in crummy roadside restaurants over getting served, I used to..sit in the bus and rest—and let them bring me out something in a sack. 1974M. G. Eberhart Danger Money v. 56 Greg paid for the food and took the sacks to the station wagon.
i. A base in baseball. Cf. bag n. 1 c. U.S.
1914Lardner & Heeman Mar. 6, 1914 30 We've larruped out th' four-sack poke And scored among a salvo. 1922E. J. Lanigan Baseball Cycl. iii. 47 Until 1920, a notable athlete..could skip around the circuit in the ninth..and, although unmolested, receive credit for a group of stolen sacks. 1938H. E. West Baseball Scrap Bk. 20 Before he reached the keystone sack the umpires flagged him down and sent him back to bat over again.
j. In American football, an act or occasion of tackling a quarter-back behind the scrimmage line before he can make a pass.
1972S. Deluca Football Playbk. 370 Sack, when the quarterback is thrown for a loss while attempting to pass. 1974[see quarterback sack s.v. quarterback n. 3]. 1978Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 6e/3 Other changes have been made, this year and in recent years, to put juice into the offence, the feeling being that people come to see touchdowns and not quarterback sacks. 1980Washington Star 3 Nov. d3, I would have to say the sacks were the difference in the game.
k. sad sack: see as main entry.
2. A sack with its contents; also the amount usually contained in a sack; hence taken as a unit of measure or weight for corn, flour, fruit, wool, coal, etc.
1314–15Rolls of Parlt. I. 313/1, li saks & x peres de leine. 1427–8Rec. St. Mary at Hill 69 For iij sak lyme to þe same mason..vj d. 1479in Eng. Gilds (1870) 425 That they bryng their sakkes of juste mesure. 1494Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 4 §2 Be it also enacted that ther be but only..xiiij lb. to the stone of Wolle and xxj stone to the sakke. 1565Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 334 The conservatour sall haif..of euer ilk sek of gudis twa sturis. 1609Skene Reg. Maj., Dav. II 44 There salbe ane maister of the Trone, quha sall receaue fra the King, ane pennie for ilk seck of woll (quhilk conteines twentie foure stanes). 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 229 Having taken out of her ten sacks of Carobs, they..let her go. 1704Lond. Post 14–17 Apr. 2/1 Last Week 6 Sacks of Cocoa-Nuts were seiz'd by a Custom-house Officer, being brought up to Town for so many sacks of Beans. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 443 Of corresponding Prices per Load, Quarter, Sack, and Bushel. 1859Tennyson Enid 263 An ancient churl,..Went sweating underneath a sack of corn. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 143, 90 pounds is the weight taken per sack of interior ores.
3. a. Proverbs and proverbial phrases. † to buy a cat in the sack [cf. F. acheter chat en sac Cotgr.]: to buy an article without first inspecting it. to bring, carry (more) sacks to the mill: see mill n.1 1 b. † to cover oneself with a wet sack [= F. se couvrir d'un sac mouillé, 16th c.]: to make vain excuses. to hold the sack: to be saddled with an unwelcome responsibility (U.S.).
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 422 To bye a catte in þo sakke is bot litel charge. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 47, I promise you an olde sacke axeth much patchyng. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 340/2 Therefore the Papists couer them selues with a wet sack, when they say [etc.]. a1651Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 404 Where they alledge we sould have beene occasioun to caus our sonne follow his father hastilie, they cover themselves theranent with a wett seck. 1904W. H. Smith Promoters xxiv. 343 They are the ones that are always left to hold the sack. 1921C. E. Mulford Bar-20 Three xii. 140 Long an' Thompson are holding the sack. They're scapegoats for th' whole cussed gang. 1929Univ. Kansas Graduate Mag. Apr., We will be holding the sack for an additional..deficit of nearly $1000. 1936E. S. Gardner Case of Stuttering Bishop xii. 191 Perhaps you didn't plan to drag me into the case and leave me holding the sack, but it sure looks as though you did. 1954W. Faulkner Fable (1955) 176 You might leave your own kinfolks holding the sack, but these are the sheriff's friends.
b. in various similative phrases.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 5127 Swych wer foul & blake of syht Lych to a colyers sak. c1440Jacob's Well 263 Þou faryst as a saccke wyth-oute botome, þere may no-thyng abyde þer-in. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xv. 437 Kyng Marke..tombled adoune out of his sadel to the erthe as a sak. 1886Hall Caine Son of Hagar ii. xvi, Tom was drawn wet as a sack to the opposite bank.
4. slang. to give (a person) the sack: to dismiss from employment or office; transf. to discard, turn off (a lover). So to get the sack: to receive one's dismissal.
The phrase has been current in Fr. from the 17th c.: cf. ‘On luy a donné son sac, hee hath his pasport giuen him (said of a seruant whom his master hath put away)’ (Cotgr.). Cf. Du. iemand den zak geven, to give one the sack (already in MDu.), den zak krijgen, to get the sack.
1825C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 178 You munna split on me, or I shall get the zack for telling on ye. 1837Dickens Pickw. xx, I wonder what old Fogg 'ud say, if he knew it. I should get the sack, I s'pose—eh? 1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story v, The short way would have been..to have requested him immediately to quit the house; or, as Mr. Gann said, ‘to give him the sack at once’. 1902Besant Five Yrs.' Tryst 12 Frivolity and even lightness of conversation were sure to be followed by the sack. 1913J. Stephens Here are Ladies 102 Getting the ‘sack’ is an experience which wearies after the first time. 1935D. Garnett Beany-Eye i. 34 If I just give him the sack he won't get another job and will get into a brawl and be sent to prison again. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier i. i. 11 If they failed to secure a minimum of twenty orders a day, they got the sack. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 16 May 274/1 Always late, crumpled and scruffy, perpetually in debt, hourly expecting the sack, Greave takes refuge from the horrid realities of life in Mittyesque fantasies, pretending he is a high-powered American salesman.
† II. 5. Sackcloth, esp. as the material of penitential or mourning garments. Also, a piece or a garment of sackcloth. Obs.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives I. 538 He aras þa of þære flora and of þam wacan sæcce þe he lange on-uppan dreoriᵹ wæs sittende. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 139 [John the Baptist chose] stiue here to shurte and gret sac to curtle. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 457 She [sc. Poverty] nadde on but a streit old sak. 1382Wyclif Dan. ix. 3 To preye and byseche in fastyngis, sac, and ashe. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 198 This kynge Ezechie..hym clothid in a sake, he Put hym-Selfe to Penaunce. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 231 b/2 His bedde was alle enuyronned with asshes and hayre and with a sacke. 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras xvi. 2 Gyrde youre selues with clothes of sack & hayre. 1589Nashe Martins Months Mind H 1, Away with silke, for I will mourne in sack, Martin is dead. 1594Greene & Lodge Looking-gl. (1598) H 3 b, Lords,..see it straight proclaim'd, That man and beast..For fortie daies in sacke and ashes fast. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 35 For Silks I will with rugged Sack be clad.
†6. Some kind of material for ladies' dresses: = sacking n.3 2. Obs.
1595Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 317, j pece stro coler seck, xxvis.; and viij yeardes checker seckynge, vjs. viijd... Ite' j pece ashe coler seckynge, xxjs.
III. attrib. and Comb.
7. a. simple attrib., as sack-band, sack-barrow, sack-cart, sack-end, sack-hoist, sack-pile, sack-pocket, sack-weight; (sense 1 j) sack pack. b. objective, as sack-bearer, sack-hauling, sack-maker, sack-making; in names of mechanical contrivances, as sack-carrier, sack-emptier, sack-holder, sack-lifter; c. similative, as sack-formed, sack-shaped adjs.; sack-like adj. and adv. sack-wise adv.
c1460Towneley Myst. xii. 167 Hold ye my mare..Whylst I..lawse the *sek band. 1638Penkethman Artach. H j, For Salt, Yeast, Candle, and Sack-bands 2d.
1850Ogilvie, *Sack barrow. 1979Daily Tel. 10 Nov. 10/6, I stuff the bags till I can hardly drag them, and then have to move them on a sack barrow.
1565Cooper Thesaurus, Saccarius, a *sackebearer.
1745W. Ellis Agriculture Improv'd in Mod. Husbandman VII. i. 124 So..that *Sack-carriers or Corn⁓porters convey the bought Wheat..to such Loft or Granary. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse p. iv, Merseyside's prosperity depended mainly..upon the crate-handlers, the sack-carriers and the horse-whackers, or in the most up-to-date cliché, the ‘service industries’.
1963Times 14 Jan. 10/7 My duties, on the other hand, were many and varied. They included propelling a two-wheeled vehicle, known to the initiated as a *sack-cart, for long distances, delivering parcels at the houses of well-to-do customers. 1969Listener 8 May 640/3, I used to have to get them [sc. sacks of flour] onto what we call a sack-cart, a trolley, shoot them into a bin.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Sack Emptier.
1937E. Muir Journeys & Places 26 Proud history has such *sackends.
1835–6Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 693/2 It is by a *sack-formed process of the mantle filled with this yellowish matter that the peduncle is first formed.
1965A. Blackshaw Mountaineering iii. xvii. 420 If *sack hauling is unavoidable use a separate rope.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Sack-hoist, an adaptation of the wheel and axle to form a continuous hoist for sacks.
1880J. W. Hill Guide Agric. Implements 468 Combined *Sack Holder and Barrow.
Ibid. 469 This Machine is an efficient *Sack Lifter, Loader, Unloader, and Shooter.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxi. 257 The *sack-like cases in which the larva resides. 1898G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 71 Sack-like droop bronze pears.
1780Westm. Mag. VIII. Suppl. 730/2 *Sack and sacking-maker. 1885Manch. Exam. 10 Jan. 5/1 A young woman named Mary Dawson, sackmaker..was found guilty of a robbery from the person.
1976Time 13 Sept. 68/2 On defense, the Colts' front four is largely unknown to fans but not to opposing quarterbacks. Pittsburgh's fearsome front four has the rep, but it was the Colts' ‘*Sack Pack’ that led the league in dumping passers last season.
1897‘Mark Twain’ Following Equator xxviii. 273 He saw a white linen figure stretched in slumber upon a pile of grain-sacks... The form whirled itself from the *sack-pile.
1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xiv. 154 Others [sc. shoplifters] have spacious *sack pockets underneath their skirts large enough to contain a roll of cloth, a dress, or a small suitcase.
1839Sowerby Conchol. Man. 21 The head..is placed above a *sack-shaped body.
1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 359/2 The *sak weyght is sold for xii Marc.
1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 178 And all her weight, all her blood, dripping sack-wise down towards the earth's centre.
8. Special comb.: sack-bag (see quot.); sack-bearer, the larva of an American moth of the family Lacosomidæ, which makes cases from leaves; sack chair (see quot. 1970); sack coal, screened coal for delivery in sacks; † sack custom, a toll on sacks of wool; sack-doodling ppl. a., quasi-arch. [cf. G. dudelsack bagpipe], that plays on the bagpipes; sack drill, duty U.S. Naval slang, sleep; time spent in bed; sack-filter, a form of filter used in sugar-refining (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); † sack gown Sc., a sackcloth garment worn by an offender when doing public penance; sack kraft, a type of strong brown paper used esp. for making large paper sacks; sack lunch N. Amer. , a packed lunch; a lunch in a paper bag; sack-pants U.S., loosely fitting trousers; sack paper = sack kraft; sack pipe ? U.S. [after G. sackpfeife], a bagpipe (Cent. Dict.); sack race, a race in which each competitor is enveloped in a sack, the mouth of which is secured round his neck; so sack racing, sack running; also sack-racer; sack-sailed a. (nonce-wd.), having sails made of sackcloth; sack ship Canad. Hist., a large vessel used for transportation in the Newfoundland fisheries; sack-shoot, an inclined plane or trough for delivering sacks to a lower level; sack-shouldered a. (nonce), carrying a sack on the shoulders; sack-tackle, tackle for hoisting sacks; sack time slang (orig. U.S. Forces'), time spent in bed; sleep; bedtime; sack tree (see quot. 1866); sack-worthy a., deserving of the sack (sense 4).
1842S. S. Arnold Diary 28 Oct. in Proc. Vermont Hist. Soc. (1940) VIII. 160 Mr. Gleason borrowed a *sack bag to carry up his cocoons in. 1885Warren & Cleverly Wand. ‘Beetle’ 10 The sack-bag, a sort of canvas bolster, an ever-ready receptacle for items forgotten in packing.
1842T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New Eng. Injurious to Vegetation 298 The Germans give these insects a more characteristic name, that of sackträger, that is *sack-bearers. 1895J. H. & A. B. Comstock Man. Study of Insects xviii. 358 Melsheimer's Sack-bearer... The larva of this species feeds on oak. 1954Borror & DeLong Introd. Study Insects xxvi. 524 The Lacosomidae are called sack-bearers because the larvae make cases from leaves and carry the cases about.
1970*Sack chair [see polystyrene]. 1976‘Z. Stone’ Modigliani Scandal iv. v. 188 Dee was lying in a sack chair, naked.
1898Westm. Gaz. 9 June 1/3 *Sack coal..has..been kept up to 1s. 2d. a cwt.
a1513Fabyan Chron. vii. 595 Yt al straungers yt caryed any wolles out of this londe, shuld pay xliii.s. iiii.d. for a *sakke custome.
1824Scott Redgauntlet let. xi, Stop though, thou *sack-doudling son of a whore!
1946Calif. Folklore Q. Oct. 387 The Navy Man enjoys resting or sleeping. A sailor who retires hits the sack, sacks in, sacks out, gets in some *sack drill,..or gets some shut-eye.
1954Webster Add., *Sack duty. 1960Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 440/1 Sack duty, sleep; time spent sleeping.
1693in G. Lorimer Leaves fr. Bk. West Kirke vi. (1885) 51 [In September 1693 Wm. MacMorran, a cobbler, confessed to a grave breach of morals. He was appointed to] buy ane *sack goun to stand in at the kirk door..on Sabbath next.
1963Economist 11 May 555/1 Reed's will take..the paper—*sack kraft—into its own mills for conversion.
1972Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 18 June 24/1 Others brought blankets and *sack lunches early Saturday and sat sprawled on the grass. 1975J. Grady Shadow of Condor (1976) v. 91 There was still enough room for the sack lunch he would buy at the restaurant and his two thermos jugs, one for coffee, one for milk.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. x. 98 An extra jumper and *sack-pants for sleeping.
1957V. S. Smith Introd. Paper & Papermaking 125/1 (Index), *Sack paper. 1968Sack paper [see Kraft].
1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede II. xxv. 195 Here is the prize for the first *sack race. 1945G. Millar Maquis x. 207, I got up in the sleeping-bag and crossed the floor in it like a child doing the sack-race. 1967Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 12 Sept. (1970) 568, I was wild about the sack races!
1884Harper's Mag. Jan. 303/1 The champion *sack-racer of the world.
1887World Almanac 103 (heading) *Sack-racing records.
1801Strutt Sports & Past. iv. iii. 277 *Sack Running, that is, men tied up in sacks, every part of them being enclosed except their heads.
1882C. Rossetti Ballad of Boding Poems (1904) 56/2 The *sack-sailed boat.
1732E. Falkingham Let. 4 Oct. in Calendar State Papers Amer. & W. Indies 1732 (1939) 225 Which fish they sell to the British *sack ships, for bills of exchange. 1907J. G. Millais Newfoundland viii. 160 In 1527, the little Devonshire fishing ships were unable to carry home their large catch, so ‘sack ships’ (large merchant vessels) were employed to carry the salt cod to Spain and Portugal. 1965W. S. MacNutt Atlantic Provinces 14 Its larger vessels, now known as ‘sack ships’, appeared on the scene at St. John's, taking no part in the catching of the cod, and serving primarily as freighters and transporters.
1902Westm. Gaz. 5 May 7/3 A *sack-shoot at the north side of the warehouse.
1922Joyce Ulysses 429 A *sack-shouldered ragman bars his path.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 140 A granary..with..bins..to contain the different sorts of grain which is raised up by the *sack-tackle.
1944Yank 18 Feb. 4 The biggest difference between the Scouts and other doughboys is their *sacktime conversation. 1945House Beautiful Jan. 39 Sack Time means just lying on your cot doing nothing. 1949in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 440/1, I didn't have any sack time. 1959Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Mag. Feb. 74/1 Last night, when I was just getting eyes for some sack time, this bear falls up to my pad, a type looking to score for free. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story xix. 204 I'll make sure they kick your ass from sun-up to sack-time.
1849Balfour Man. Bot. Index, *Sack-tree. 1866Treas. Bot., Lepurandra, the Sack-tree of Western India, a tree..now..called Antiaris saccidora... It is a gigantic tree..having a strong tough fibrous inner bark..of which the natives..make capital sacks.
1942D. F. Bruce Dimsie carries On xxi. 197, I can't just sack her for talking to a man in the road, even if he happens to be one for whom we have no great liking; there's nothing *sack-worthy in that.
▪ II. sack, n.2|sæk|
Forms: 6 sak, 6–7 sac, sacke, 6– sack.
[a. F. sac (in phr. mettre à sac), ad. It. sacco (= Sp. saco, Pg. saque), of doubtful origin.
By some scholars it is regarded as identical with sacco bag, sack n.1, or as a verbal noun from the derivative verb saccare to put in a bag, with reference to the putting up of plunder into bags or sacks. This is possible, but evidence is wanting.]
The action of sack v.2; sackage, plundering; esp. in phr. to put to sack, † to put to or unto the sack (obs.).
1549Compl. Scot. xiv. 114 Thai gat entres vitht in the toune, and pat it to sac. 1567Turberv. Disprayse of Women in Epitaphes, etc. 61 b, Helen that to vtter sack, both Greece and Troie brought. 1577–87Holinshed Hist. Scot. 246/1 The said earle of March..comming to the said towne, tooke it, slue all the Englishmen found within it, put their goods to the sacke, and after set the towne on fire. 1581Styward Mart. Discipl. ii. 141 Graunt not license to thy souldiers to put all to sacke. 1598Barret Theor. Warres i. ii. 11 Licence graunted to fall vnto the sacke and spoile. 1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God iii. xxviii. 147 Many also of the noblest citties and townes were put vnto the sacke. c1645Howell Lett. vi. 75 Before the Sac of Troy, 'twas said and sung up and down the streets. 1777Watson Philip II (1793) II. xiii. 136 He despaired to reduce so strong a place by sack and storm. 1808Scott Marm. iv. xxxii, Or..call The burghers forth to watch and ward, 'Gainst southern sack and fires to guard. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 614 Those inhabitants who had favoured the insurrection expected sack and massacre. 1873Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 191 The storm..was a punishment for their impiety and pride during a sack of Troy. 1893F. Adams New Egypt 40 But Memphis was gone, having suffered a hundred sacks and dilapidations.
b. transf. and fig.
a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1622) 353 Alas sorrow, now thou hast the full sacke of my conquered spirits. 1590Greene Neuer too late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 105 Hast thou had the spoile of my virginitie, and now wouldest thou haue the sacke of my substaunce?
c. Plundered goods. rare.
1859Tennyson Enid 694 He found the sack and plunder of our house All scatter'd thro' the houses of the town.
▪ III. sack, n.3 Obs. exc. Hist.|sæk|
Forms: α. 6 north. wyn seake, Sc. wyne seck, vyne sekk; β. 6 seck(e; γ. 6 sakke, 6–7 sacke, 6– sack.
[Early 16th c. wyne seck, ad. F. vin sec, ‘dry wine’. Cf. G. sekt, earlier (17th c.) sek, Du. sek.
Vin sec is given by Sherwood 1632 (but not by Cotgrave 1611–32) as the Fr. equivalent of ‘sacke’. According to Littré, vin sec meant only ‘dry wine’ in the current Eng. sense, i.e. wine ‘free from sweetness and fruity flavour’; there appears to be no ground for the assumption made in Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch, s.v. Sekt (and in earlier German dictionaries from the 17th c. onwards), that it at some time meant ‘wine from dried or partially dried grapes’. Some difficulty therefore arises from the fact that sack in English, as well as sekt in German, was often described as a sweet wine (so already in our earliest quot.), though Shakespeare's mention of ‘sack and sugar’ shows that it was not always such even in the 16th c. It is possible that before the recorded history of the name begins it had already been extended from the ‘dry’ wines of a certain class to the whole class, and had afterwards come to be applied esp. to those wines of the class which were originally excluded. But evidence is wanting. The Sp. *vino seco, It. *vino secco, usually cited by etymologists, appear not to be recognized by the lexicographers of the respective langs.
The form sack is not a normal development from the original seck. It may perhaps be explained by the fact that in the 16th c. seck was a provincial form of sack n.1; persons who were accustomed to regard ‘seck’ as a mispronunciation of sack may have applied the supposed correction to the name of the wine. It is not, in the present state of the evidence, probable that there was ever any confusion with the OF. vin de sac (‘Saccatum, vin de buffet, vin de sac’, in a gloss quoted by Godefr.), OHG. sacwîn (written saicwin), MDu. sacwijn, which according to early explanations meant a beverage made by steeping the lees of wine in water, and then straining through a bag.]
1. a. A general name for a class of white wines formerly imported from Spain and the Canaries.
α1536–7Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 691 Et in vino Clareto et le Wyn seake. 1547Salesbury Welsh Dict., Seck win, secke. 1558Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 311 Ane bot of wyne seck. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 320 Burdeous vyne gave v schilling the pynt and vyne sekk vij schilling.
β, γ1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 7 §3 It is further enacted..that no Malmeseis Romeneis Sakkes nor other swete Wynes..shalbe rateiled aboue .xij. d. the galon. 1542Boorde Dyetary x. (1870) 255 Also these hote wynes, as malmesye, wyne course, wyne greke, romanysk, romny, seck [etc.].. be not good to drynke with meate. 1555–6Rec. St. Mary at Hill 403 Item, payde in Claret wyne, sacke and sugar..iij s. xj d. 1592Greene Conny Catch. ii. Wks. (Grosart) X. 93 Haue with you for a pottle of burnt Secke. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV (Qo. 1598) ii. iv. 516 If sacke and sugar be a fault, God helpe the wicked. 1601― Twel. N. ii. iii. 206 Ile go burne some Sacke. 1607Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe i. B 1, Come weele ha some muld Sack. 1620[see canary wine s.v. canary n. 7]. 1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea xliii. 103 Since the Spanish Sacks haue beene common in our Tavernes..our Nation complaineth of Calenturas [etc.]. 1623Markham Eng. Housew. ii. 149 Your best Sacks are of Seres in Spaine, your smaller of Galicia and Portugall; your strong Sacks are of the Ilands of the Canaries, and of Malligo. 1663Dryden Wild Gallant i. i, My Business is to drink my Morning's-draught in sack with you. 1686[see Malaga]. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 165 Grate sugar round your dish, and serve them up with sack for sauce. 1771E. Haywood New Present 227 The racy taste of Canary, now commonly called Sack.
b. With qualifying word, chiefly with words indicating the place of production or exportation, as Canary sack, Malaga sack, Palm sack [= Palma], Sherris sack or Sherry sack [= Xeres: see sherry] sack.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV (Qo. 1600) iv. iii. 104 A good sherris sacke hath a two fold operation in it. 1625Hart Anat. Ur. i. v. 45 A cup of good sherry Sacke, Malago, or Canary. 1632Canary sack [see canary n. 7]. c1660New Mad Tom 51 in Roxb. Ballads II. 261 A cup of old Malaga Sack. 1680Morden Geog. Rect., Spain (1685) 176 Hence come our Sherry-Sacks. 1735–7Berkeley Querist §151 Men of nice palates have been imposed on,..by mead for palm sack. 1756Rolt Dict. Trade s.v. Canary islands, Palma..is remarkable for its produce of wine, called palm⁓sack, or Canary.
c. The following passage is often alluded to as a proverbial type of flagrant disproportion, esp. where there is an absurd excess of what is unsubstantial or unimportant over what is solid.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV (Qo. 1598) ii. iv. 592 O monstrous! but one halfepeniworth of bread to this intollerable deale of sack?
2. attrib. and Comb.:
a. simple attrib., as sack-pot;
b. objective, as sack-guzzler; sack-holding ppl. adj.c. instrumental, as sack-sopped adj.;
d. spec. in the names of beverages, etc., made with sack, as sack-cream, -mead, -posset, -whey. Also sack-butt.
1665R. May Accomplisht Cook (ed. 2) 283 To make a *Sack Cream. 1767Mrs. Glasse's Cookery 361 Sack cream like butter.
1823Bentham Mem. & Corr. Wks. 1843 X. 536 Then came..the ultra-servile *sack-guzzler, Southey.
1858W. Bagehot in National Rev. Oct. 474 Falstaff is a sort of *sack-holding paunch.
1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 331 To make *Sack Mead. To every gallon of water pour four pounds of honey, boil it.., then put it in your cask, and to thirteen gallons of the above liquor, add a quart of brandy or sack.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iv, Shee composes a *sack posset well. 1747H. Glasse Cookery 80 To make an Excellent Sack-Posset. Beat fifteen Eggs..; then put three quarters of a Pound of White Sugar into a Pint of Canary [etc.]. 1851Thackeray Eng. Hum. v, His genius had been nursed on sack posset, and not on dishes of tea.
1857J. Marryat Pottery & Porcelain (ed. 2) 143 Of the *sack-pots one at Strawberry Hill was dated 1647.
1593G. Harvey Lett. & Sonn. Wks. (Grosart) II. 345 Thy Clarret spirite, And *sack-sopt miseries of thy Confutations.
1736Gentl. Mag. VI. 619/2 Drink plentifully of small, warm *Sack-Whey.
▪ IV. sack, n.4|sæk|
Also 7, 9 sac, 8– sacque.
[Cf. G. französischer sack (Grimm), Du. zak, both applied in the 18th c. to a French fashion of gown then worn by ladies. This, with Pepys' spelling (quot. 1668–9), would seem to indicate adoption from F. sac, but the Fr. lexicographers do not recognize the word in this sense.
It is possible that both the senses below, or sense 2 only, may have originated as transferred uses of sack n.1 To place them under that word would however be inconvenient, on account of the marked divergence of application, and the fact that the pseudo-Fr. spelling sacque is still frequent in both senses.
Sense 2 is given by M. Heyne (in Grimm) as a modern tailors' use of G. sack (also sackpaletot ‘sack’ overcoat); but this may possibly be from English.
In the following quot. sackes may denote some article of clothing, but its sense is obscure, and it is not certain that it is English:—
1390–1Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 112 Et eiusdem pipours et thrumpours pro vj. sackes de fostyon ex precepto domini, lx s.]
1. A loose kind of gown worn by ladies. ? Obs. Also, from the 18th c., an appendage of silk attached to the shoulders of such a dress, and forming a train (see quot. 1882).
1599Peele Sir Clyomon xv, But there's Frumpton's wench in the frieze sack [orig.ed. scake], it will do thee good to see What canvosing is at the milking-time between her and me. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster iv. i, This straight-bodied citty attire (I can tell you) will stirre a Courtiers blood, more, then the finest loose Sackes the Ladies vse to be put in. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 199 The women [of Macassar, or the Celebes]..weare a large long cawle or sack, like net-worke, which as a garment hides them wholy. 1668–9Pepys Diary 2 Mar., My wife this day put on first her French gown, called a Sac. 1748H. Walpole Let. to Conway 27 June, The Prince himself..leading Madame l'Ambassadrice de Venise in a green sack with a straw hat. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxvii, I can assure you, my Lady Traill has had a sacque from this piece this very morning. 1775Lond. Mag. July 343/1 Flowing loosely down her back Draw with art the graceful sack. 1782F. Burney Diary 8 Dec., I can't bear a sacque. a1845Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. Wedding Day, The flowered silk sacques, which they wore on their backs. 1852Thackeray Esmond ii. xv, How am I to go trapesing to Kensington in my yellow satin sack before all the fine company? 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, Sac (Sack or Sacque), an old term, still in use, denoting a superfluous, but decorative, piece of a dress material fastened to the shoulders at the back of the gown in wide, loose plaits, and descending to the ground, of such a length as to form a train. The gown itself is always complete without this appendage.
attrib.1770Chatterton Let. 8 July, Wks. 1803 III. 444 Direct for me at Mrs. Angel's, Sack-maker, Brooke Street, Holborn. 1896Daily News 25 June 6/6 The last two, being children, were attired in pretty old-fashioned sacque frocks.
2. a. A loose-fitting coat the back of which is not shaped to the figure, but hangs more or less straight from the shoulders. Also attrib.
1847Longfellow in Life (1891) II. 90 In fair weather he wears a brown linen sack. 1847S. S. Magoffin Diary 26 Aug. in Down Santa Fé Trail (1926) 253 The general was dressed in his famed old gray sack coat. 1869S. Bowles Our New West v. 100 My last winter's thick pantaloons and heavy sack coat..completed my clothing. 1883D. C. Murray Hearts I. 33 He wore a velvet sacque to paint in. 1883C. F. Woolson For the Major v, Miss Honoria disapproved of the rector because he occasionally wore a sack-coat. 1883Howells Woman's Reason II. xxi. 204 The two women laughed together, and began to pull up their sacks, which had dropped from their shoulders into their chairs behind them. 1892Daily News 3 May 2/4 The sack-back coat is now rapidly finding its way to the lower social strata. 1896Ibid. 19 Mar. 6/5 Sacque jackets divide the honours with capes. 1903Westm. Gaz. 18 June 4/2 The sac bolero..gives size to the slender and veils that of the stout.
b. sack suit, a suit with a straight, loose-fitting jacket; a lounge suit. Hence sack-suited a.
1895N.Y. Dramatic News 6 July 14/4 Four button sack suit, $25. 1907H. Lawson in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 68 He wore a saddle-tweed sac suit two sizes too small for him. 1960B. Keaton Wonderful World of Slapstick 116, I cleaned up, got into a natty sack suit, and brushed my hair. 1978J. Raven Triad Consignment iii. 26 Those sack-suited characters in B-pictures.
3. [May belong under sack n.1] A cut of dress, being short, unwaisted, and usu. narrowing at the hem; a dress in this style; also sack dress.
Fashionable during the second half of the 1950s.
1957Punch 18 Sept. 333 After all, the belted sack-dress, in some form or another, is a perennial we have known all down the years, flowering chiefly in the suburbs and the provinces. 1957Daily Mail 26 Sept. 4/2 The sack has swept London like a prairie fire. Ibid. 10 Oct. 10/3 A sack, however well cut, needs a tallish figure, and it must be very short and tight at the hemline. 1958Observer 21 Sept. 9/3 If there's still a sack to be seen, next week it will acquire a drawstring below the bust. 1959Listener 8 Jan. 56/2 The sack is out. Now, it's the Empire line. 1959Times 25 July 7/4 Hence the rapid disappearance of the A line, the Z line, the sac, and the rest of the hideous devices for disguising the fact that women really look their best when they wear bright colours and bulge (moderately) in the proper places. 1969Listener 14 Aug. 206/3 The next big fashion thing was the Sack, and after that the waist, if it was indicated at all, was round the knees or the hips or the diaphragm. 1973Guardian 10 Apr. 13/3 Lagerfeld shows signs of the sack coming back. 1975‘M. Fonteyn’ Autobiogr. ii. iv. 173 Elizabeth [Taylor] was wearing a ‘sack’ dress, the latest fashion.
▪ V. sack, v.1|sæk|
[f. sack n.1: cf. L. saccāre to strain through a bag (med.L. also to put into a bag), MDu. sacken (Du. zakken), G. sacken to put into a bag.]
1. a. trans. To put into a sack; to pack or store (goods) in sacks. Also with up.
c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 150 Whan the Mele is sakked and ybounde. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xl. (1869) 156, I sakke as michel sum time as tweyne or thre poore men mihten wel fille here sakkes with. 1510–20Everyman (Greg) 396 In chestes I am locked so fast, Also sacked in bagges. a1710Betterton (J.), Now..The grist is sack'd, and every sack well bound. 1772R. Graves Spir. Quixote (1783) I. 206 The Tinker, however, sacked up his budget, and his companion her bundle. 1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 505 The pickled wheat is then sacked up and carried to the field in carts. 1845Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VI. ii. 321 It threshes, cleans, and finally sacks the grain. 1882Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 321 The ore..is being sacked for shipment. 1891Atkinson Moorland Par. 65 The corn would be threshed, dressed, and sacked, nobody knew how.
b. To put (a person) in a sack to be drowned.
1425Rolls of Parlt. IV. 298/2 Ye said Erle lete sakke hym forthwith, and drounyd him in Thamyse. 1530Palsgr. 696/2 He shall nat be hanged, but he shall be sacked and throwen in to Seyne. 1823Byron Juan vi. civ, A foolish or imprudent act Would..have..ended in his being..sack'd, And thrown into the sea. 1836Willis Summer Cruise in Medit. xliii. (1852) 257 A Turkish woman was sacked and thrown into the Bosphorus this morning.
c. Sporting. To ‘bag’ (game).
1838P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 140 Shot 29 geese and sacked every bird.
d. In American football, to tackle (a quarter-back) behind the scrimmage line before he can make a pass.
1969Internat. Herald Tribune 6 Nov. 13/4 If you're sacked it's second and 17. 1974Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 27 Oct. 7-c/3 Despite all the problems the Buckeye defense managed to sack Anderson three times and picked off three of his passes. 1976Washington Post 4 Sept. d1/5 Kilmer..was sacked hard early in the second quarter by Bears tackle Ron Rydalch.
†2. To heap up in or as in a sack. Obs.
1599Peele Sir Clyom. xv, He, whose heart more hard than flint Hath sack'd on me such hugy heaps of ceaseless sorrows here. 1612T. James Jesuits' Downf. 22 It was an old state principle of Machiavell, to packe and sack vp sackes of money to..binde mens tongues therewith.
3. colloq. To ‘pocket’.
1807E. S. Barrett Rising Sun I. 59 All complained that he sacked the receipts, without letting them touch one farthing. 1830Galt Lawrie T. ii. ii. (1849) 47 To sack a reasonable profit. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 213 The money advanced had already been sacked and spent. 1888W. B. Churchward Blackbirding 210 We sold the oil to one of the merchants, and sacked the dollars.
4. a. To put into a case or sack-like covering. rare.
1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur iv. xiii. 253 At the corners they placed pillows..sacked in cloth blue and crimson.
b. pass. with in, out, or up: to be in bed or asleep. Cf. sense 8 below.
1954Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (ed. 2) §251/11 Asleep,..sacked out. Ibid. §892/3 In bed,..sacked out. 1959W. Faulkner Mansion xii. 280, I was all right. I had had it. I had it made. I was sacked up. 1965‘R. L. Pike’ Police Blotter iii. 56 His punk grandson took it when the old man was sacked in one night.
5. slang.
a. To ‘give the sack’ to; to dismiss or discharge (a person) from his employment or office. Chiefly pass. Also transf. and fig., esp. (a) to reject (a suitor), to jilt; (b) to expel from school.
1841in Cath. News 3 June (1899) 15/5 He said he had just come from Glasgow, and had been ‘sacked’. 1861H. Mayhew London Labour II. 469/1 Ah! she's a good kind creetur'; there's no pride in her whatsumever—and she never sacks her servants. 1865Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 2/1 If..the solicitor by whom he was employed, had made up his books, he (the plaintiff) would have been ‘sacked six months ago’. 1882R. D. Blackmore Christowell III. xi. 160 He had never known more than one girl, worth the end of a cigar—and that one had sacked him. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 363 The committee ought to be sacked. 1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara ii. 214 When trade is bad..and the employers az to sack arf their men, they generally start on me. 1914‘I. Hay’ Lighter Side School Life vii. 191 Tommy..arrives home one afternoon in a taxi in the middle of term, and announces..that he has been ‘sacked’. 1929Amer. Speech V. 20 When a hillman announced that ‘Lucy done sacked me’ he meant that his sweetheart had refused him a date, or rejected his proposal of marriage. 1930Punch 2 Apr. 376/3 If it doesn't turn out well I shall sack the lot of you. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 8 May 8/2 The general contention that competition must be sacked in favor of some scheme of controlled coöperation. 1955Times 21 July 13/4 The difficulties were due to the failure of nationalization and..the remedy was to sack the Coal Board, [etc.]. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard iii. 110 Scotty sacked the policemen who had arrived in the patrol car; they could add nothing. 1977Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Jan. 24/1 He hated the two and a half terms he spent as a boy there before, aged twelve.., he was sacked.
b. To beat in a contest. (Cf. sack v.2)
1820–3Carleton Traits Irish Peasantry (1864) I. 275 The terms of defeat or victory..were called sacking and bogging... 'Twas young Brady that didn't sack him clane..and went nigh to bog the priest himself in Greek. 1841E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 71 F. Tennyson says that he and a party of Englishmen fought a cricket match with the crew of the Bellerophon..and sacked the sailors by 90 runs. 1846in Brasenose Ale 80 The pluckiest crew on Isis stream..Is the one that has sacked the Christ Church Boat, And distanced all the rest.
6. Lumber-trade. See quot. 1860 s.v. sacking vbl. n.1
1860[see sacking vbl. n.1 1]. 1893Scribner's Mag. June 715/1 And thus, wading and ‘sacking’ logs, the rear crew works.. from daylight to dark.
7. intr. To bulge or ‘bag’.
1799[implied in sacking vbl. n.1 1].
8. intr. With advbs.
a. to sack in: to turn in, to go to bed; also, to lie in. slang (orig. U.S.).
1946[see sack drill s.v. sack n.1 8]. 1951in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 440/1 Shut up and sack in. 1962‘S. Ransome’ Without Trace x. 107 After she left I had some more drinks and sacked in. 1966D. F. Galouye Lost Perception xvi. 168 ‘I let you sack in this morning,’ he told Gregson, ‘so you could stockpile your energy.’ 1967‘T. Wells’ What should you know of Dying? iii. 41 Benedict's call, at about nine o'clock, woke me up... I'd planned to sack in till about eleven. 1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone iii. 79 Listen, pal, before I sack in..why don't you tell us.
b. to sack out: to go to bed, to have a sleep, to doss down. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
1946[see sack drill s.v. sack n.1 8]. 1951Arkansas Democrat 3 July 14/5 Well, it's time to sack out. 1961‘E. Lathen’ Banking on Death viii. 66 The radio said the roads were closed, so I said the hell with it and sacked out on the couch. 1970J. Hansen Fadeout vii. 55, I was getting ready to sack out. I'd just had a shower. 1971Daily Tel. 19 July 3/2 Many young travellers..are faced with the choice of curling up in a doorway or ‘sacking out’ in one of London's parks. 1977New Yorker 9 May 46/1 One night we missed the last train. We sacked out in the waiting room in Grand Central.
c. to sack down: to go to bed. slang.
1956F. Herbert Dragon in Sea 84 Want me to bring up some sandwiches before I sack down? 1978E. V. Cunningham Case of Russian Diplomat i. 11, I lost a night's sleep... How about I sack down for a few hours?
▪ VI. sack, v.2|sæk|
Also 6 Sc. sact.
[f. sack n.2 Cf. Pr., Sp., Pg. saquear, It. saccheggiare.]
1. trans. To give over (a city, town, etc.) to plunder by the soldiery of a victorious army; to strip (a person or place) of possessions or goods; to plunder, despoil.
a1547Surrey Ecclesiastes v. Wks. 1815 I. 76 The plenteous houses sackt; the owners end with shame Their sparkled goods. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 45 The toune was sacked to the greate gayne of the Englishemen. 1563Winȝet Vincent. Lirin. To Marie Q. Scottis, Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 5 That al the enimeis thairof..suld nocht mak thame be force and plane violente to sact it, or onyways subdew it. 1567Satir. Poems Reform. v. 52 Spair not to gif thame all ane syse, Quhome ze beleif the King did sact. 1574tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 44 He wil be sacked of all his goods or be throwen into prison. 1634Heywood Maidenh. Lost i. Wks. 1874 I. 111 We sack't the Citty after nine Moneths siege. 1807J. Barlow Columb. iii. 13 They sack the temples, the gay fields deface. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxi, People..are flying from the town which is sacked from end to end. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 295 From Bow to Hyde Park..there was no parish in which some quiet dwelling had not been sacked by burglars. 1879Green Read. Eng. Hist. xvii. 83 The monastery was sacked by the Danes.
b. said of an inanimate agent.
1571Satir. Poems Reform. xxv. 119 Gif fyre may þair buildings sacke, Or bullat beat þaim downe. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam vii. xxxviii, When I woke, the flood Whose banded waves that crystal cave had sacked Was ebbing round me.
†2. To take as plunder or spoil. Obs. rare—1.
1590tr. P. Ubaldino's Disc. conc. Span. Invas. 21 The Englishmen departed,..hauing sacked 22000. duckets of gold,..and 14. coffers of mooueables.
fig.1590Greene Never too late ii. Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 155 Thou seekest not only to sacke mine honour, but to suck my bloud.
▪ VII. sack
obs. form of sac1. |