Sack Definition & Meaning

Definition

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms sacked 1 American [sakt] / sækt /

adjective

1. Informal. dismissed or discharged from a job.

   The company was forced to recognize union rights and reinstate the sacked workers.

2. Football. (of the quarterback) tackled behind the line of scrimmage before being able to throw a pass.

   We've all seen it and winced—the sacked quarterback who can't get up.

3. put into a sack or sacks.

   The creek channel is constrained by the sacked concrete used to reinforce both of its banks in the 1950s.

   I let him push the cart with my sacked groceries out to my parked car.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sack.

sacked 2 American [sakt] / sækt /

adjective

1. destroyed or pillaged, as after capture.

   In the 13th century, Nicaea was a haven for refugees from the sacked city of Constantinople.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sack.

Etymology

Origin of sacked1

First recorded in 1880–85; 1930–35 sacked 1 for def. 1; sack 1 ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; sack 1 ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense

Origin of sacked2

First recorded in 1590–1600; sack 2 ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective; sack 2 ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sherwood also steered Villa away from the drop but, shorn of influential stars Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph in the summer, was sacked after six successive defeats left them bottom in October.

From BBC

Their connections to the late financier have seen both men lose positions, with Mountbatten-Windsor stripped of his royal titles and Lord Mandelson sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US.

From BBC

Lancaster was sacked before he got to lead in a 47th fixture, following a desperate home World Cup in 2015.

From BBC

They sacked Thomas Frank, thinking they were going to get this short-term fix from Tudor, but they have got a guy who has had a short-term shocker.

From BBC

She has opened Venezuela's vast oil industry to foreign investment, sacked officials suspected of corruption, released scores of political prisoners and, according to Bogota, begun pushing Colombian rebels back across the border.

From Barron's

Related Words

• broken
• demolished
• devastated
• lost
• ravaged
• ruined
• shattered
• smashed
• wrecked

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.