sack

n.

1. 1. A large bag of strong coarse material for holding objects in bulk.
   2. A similar container of paper or plastic.
   3. The amount that such a container can hold.
2. also sacque A short loose-fitting garment for women and children.
3. Slang. Dismissal from employment: finally got the sack after a year of ineptitude.
4. Informal. A bed, mattress, or sleeping bag.
5. Baseball. A base.
6. Football. A successful attempt at sacking the quarterback.

tr.v., sacked, sack·ing, sacks.

1. To place into a sack.
2. Slang. To discharge from employment. See synonyms at dismiss.
3. Football. To tackle (a quarterback attempting to pass the ball) behind the line of scrimmage.

phrasal verb:

sack out Slang.

1. To sleep.

[Middle English, from Old English sacc, from Latin saccus, from Greek sakkos, of Semitic origin.]

WORD HISTORY   The ordinary word sack carries within it a few thousand years of commercial history. Sack, which probably goes back to Middle Eastern antiquity, has a long history because it and its ancestors denoted an object used in trade between various peoples. Thus the Greeks got their word sakkos, "a bag made out of coarse cloth or hair," from the Phoenicians with whom they traded. We do not know the Phoenician word, but we know words that are akin to it, such as Hebrew śaq and Akkadian saqqu. The Greeks then passed the sack, as it were, to the Latin-speaking Romans, who transmitted their word saccus, "a large bag or sack," to the Germanic tribes with whom they traded, who gave it the form *sakkiz (other peoples have also taken this word from Greek or Latin, including speakers of Welsh, Russian, Polish, and Albanian). The speakers of Old English, a Germanic language, used two forms of the word, sæc, from *sakkiz, and sacc, directly from Latin; the second Old English form is the ancestor of our sack.

sack² (săk)
tr.v., sacked, sack·ing, sacks.
To rob of goods or valuables, especially after capture.

n.

1. The looting or pillaging of a captured city or town.
2. Plunder; loot.

[Probably from French (mettre à) sac, (to put in) a sack, from Old French sac, sack, from Latin saccus, sack, bag. See sack¹.]

sack³ (săk)
n.
Any of various light, dry, strong wines from Spain and the Canary Islands, imported to England in the 16th and 17th centuries.

[From French (vin) sec, dry (wine), from Old French, from Latin siccus, dry.]

Canvas mail bag containing one or more packages of mail for a common destination. Sacks vary in size and capacity. The most common sack sizes are a #2, which holds 70 pounds, and a #3, which holds 45 pounds. In practice, some amount less than the maximum capacity is placed into the sack. See also optimizer; presort; sack tag.

Discharge, terminate, fire (an employee); the employee ‘gets the sack,' originally meaning that he picked up his sack of tools and moved on.

Old name for a variety of white wines from Spain and the Canaries, e.g. sherry.

noun

The act of dismissing or the condition of being dismissed from employment: discharge, dismissal, termination. Informal ax. Slang boot¹, bounce. See keep/release.

verb

To end the employment or service of: cashier, discharge, dismiss, drop, release, terminate. Informal ax, fire, pink-slip. Slang boot¹, bounce, can. Idioms: give someone his or her walking papers, give someone the ax, give someone the gate, give someone the pink slip, let go, show someone the door. See keep/release.

sack²

verb

To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war: depredate, despoil, havoc, loot, pillage, plunder, ransack, rape, ravage, spoliate, strip¹. Archaic harrow, spoil. See crimes, give/take/reciprocity.

Idioms beginning with sack:
sackcloth and ashes
sack out

In addition to the idiom beginning with sack, also see get the ax (sack); hit the hay (sack); sad sack.

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v

Definition: raid, plunder
Antonyms: guard, protect, save

v

Definition: remove from position of responsibility
Antonyms: employ, hire, take on

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The name used in the sixteenth century during the reign of Elizabeth I for sherry or other fortified wines from málaga or the Canary Islands. Such wines were known as Málaga Sack and Canary Sack. The word comes from the Spanish sacar, meaning "to take out" or "to export."

IN BRIEF: A large bag; to fire from a job; to plunder, pillage.

A fact is like a sack - it won't stand up if it's empty. —  Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936), Italian playwright and novelist.

Dreaming about a large sack, particularly one that a person might fit into, might be a womb symbol. Alternatively, corpses are sometimes placed in sacks, so a sack can suggest death as well. The dream might also be alluding to idioms such as "getting sacked" or "hitting the sack." (See also Bag).

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - sæk, sækkekjole, udplyndring, kasse, kane, køje, afsked
v. tr. - fyre, plyndre, fylde i sæk

idioms:

• get the sack    blive fyret
• give the sack    fyre
• hit the sack    gå i seng, gå til køjs
• sack in    gå i seng, gå til køjs
• sack out    blive udsovet, ligge og snue

2.
v. tr. - udplyndre
n. - udplyndring

3.
n. - sekt

Nederlands (Dutch)
zak, baal, bed, losse jurk, plunderen, ontslaan, de laan uitsturen, in een zak stoppen

Français (French)
1.
n. - sac
v. tr. - mettre (qn) à la porte

idioms:

• get the sack    se faire mettre à la porte
• give the sack    mettre à la porte, virer
• hit the sack    se coucher, se pieuter
• sack in    se coucher, dormir
• sack out    (US) dormir (fam)

2.
v. tr. - mettre à sac (une ville)
n. - pillage

3.
n. - vin blanc d'Espagne (arch)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Sack
v. - einsacken

idioms:

• get the sack    rausgeschmissen werden (ugs)
• give the sack    rausschmeißen
• hit the sack    (ugs.) sich in die Falle hauen
• sack in    (ugs.) sich in die Falle hauen
• sack out    (ugs.) sich in die Falle hauen

2.
v. - (ugs.) rausschmeißen, plündern
n. - (ugs.) Rausschmiß, Plünderung

3.
n. - Sherry

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σακί, τσουβάλι, λεηλασία, (καθομ.) απόλυση (από εργασία), (ΗΠΑ) κρεβάτι
v. - λεηλατώ, εκπορθώ, απολύω, σακιάζω

idioms:

• get the sack    (καθομ.) με απολύουν
• give the sack    (καθομ.) απολύω
• hit the sack    (ΗΠΑ, καθομ.) πέφτω για ύπνο
• sack in    (ΗΠΑ, καθομ.) πέφτω για ύπνο
• sack out    (ΗΠΑ, καθομ.) πάω για ύπνο

Italiano (Italian)
licenziare, saccheggiare, sacco

idioms:

• give the sack    licenziare
• got the sack    venire licenziato
• hit the sack    andare a dormire
• sack in/out    andare a letto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - saca (m), saque (m)
v. - ensacar

idioms:

• get the sack    ser despedido
• give the sack    despedir
• hit the sack    ir deitar, ir para a cama
• sack in/out    adormecer

Русский (Russian)
мешок, куль, сак (пальто), мех для вина, бурдюк, шлейф, мантия, спальный мешок, вино типа хереса, грабеж, класть, ссыпать в мешок, нацеживать, увольнять, отдавать на разграбление, грабить

idioms:

• give the sack    увольнять с работы, оставить кого-л. с носом
• got the sack    быть уволенным
• hit the sack    идти спать
• sack in/out    ложиться спать

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - costal, saco, talega, bolsa
v. tr. - poner de patitas en la calle, echar, despedir

idioms:

• get the sack    despedir, ser despedido
• give the sack    despedir
• hit the sack    tumbarse, echarse en la cama
• sack in    embolsar, acostarse a dormir
• sack out    desembolsar

2.
v. tr. - saquear, pillar
n. - saqueo, pillaje

3.
n. - vino blanco seco

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - säck, slängkappa, plundring, säckigt klädesplagg, säng, slaf, sekt
v. - plundra, fylla i säckar, håva in

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 袋, 麻袋, 粗布袋, 一袋, 装...入袋, 解雇, 开除, 胜过

idioms:

• get the sack    被解雇
• give the sack    解雇
• hit the sack    就寝
• sack in    睡觉
• sack out    睡觉

2. 劫掠, 洗劫

3. 萨克葡萄酒

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
v. tr. - 劫掠, 洗劫
n. - 劫掠

2.
n. - 薩克葡萄酒

3.
n. - 袋, 麻袋, 粗布袋, 一袋
v. tr. - 裝...入袋, 解雇, 開除, 勝過

idioms:

• get the sack    被解僱
• give the sack    解僱
• hit the sack    就寢
• sack in    睡覺
• sack out    睡覺

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 마대, (질긴) 종이 봉지, 품이 넓은 상의
v. tr. - ~자루에 넣다, ~을 해고하다, 차지하다

idioms:

• get the sack    해고당하다, 퇴짜맞다
• give the sack    해고하다, 퇴짜를 놓다
• hit the sack    잠자리에 들다, 자다
• sack in    잠자리에 들다, 잠들다
• sack out    잠자러 가다

2.
v. tr. - (도시 등을) 약탈하다, 노략질하다
n. - (점령지의) 약탈, 강탈, 색

3.
n. - 색이 있는 술 (16-17 세기에 영국으로 수입된 백포도주의 일종)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大袋, 一袋, 寝袋, 買い物袋, 解雇, 略奪, サック酒
v. - 袋に入れる, 解雇する, 略奪する

idioms:

• got the sack    首になる
• hit the sack    床につく, 寝る
• sack in/out    寝る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) صرف من الخدمه, كيس (فعل) يصرف من الخدمه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שק, סל-נייר, פיטורים, מעיל רחב‬
v. tr. - ‮פיטר‬
v. tr. - ‮שדד, בזז‬
n. - ‮ביזה, שוד‬
n. - ‮יין לבן יבש‬

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sack	hacky sack
Sack Up	Dry Sack Sherry