| sack | To plunder or pillage, as a town or city; to devastate; to ravage. "The Romans lay under the apprehension of seeing their city sacked by a barbarous enemy." (Addison) Origin: See Sack pillage. 1. A bag for holding and carrying goods of any kind; a receptacle made of some kind of pliable material, as cloth, leather, and the like; a large pouch. 2. A measure of varying capacity, according to local usage and the substance. The American sack of salt is 215 pounds; the sack of wheat, two bushels. 3. [Perhaps a different word] Originally, a loosely hanging garnment for women, worn like a cloak about the shoulders, and serving as a decorative appendage to the gown; now, an outer garment with sleeves, worn by women; as, a dressing saek. Alternative forms: sacque. 4. A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam. 5. <biology> See Sac. <zoology> Sack bearer . See Basket worm, under Basket. <botany> Sack tree, an East Indian tree (Antiaris saccidora) which is cut into lengths, and made into sacks by turning the bark inside out, and leaving a slice of the wood for a bottom. To give the sack to or get the sack, to discharge, or be discharged, from employment; to jilt, or be jilted. Origin: OE. Sak, sek, AS. Sacc, saecc, L. Saccus, Gr. From Heb. Sak; cf. F. Sac from the Latin. Cf. Sac, Satchel, Sack to plunder. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| sack-winged | <zoology> Having a peculiar pouch developed near the front edge of the wing; said of certain bats of the genus Saccopteryx. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Sacks, Benjamin | <person> U.S. Physician, 1896-1939. See: Libman-Sacks endocarditis, Libman-Sacks syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |