What is "sack"

Sack \Sack\, n. [F. sac plunder, pillage, originally, a pack, packet, booty packed up, fr. L. saccus. See Sack a bag.] The pillage or plunder, as of a town or city; the storm and plunder of a town; devastation; ravage.

The town was stormed, and delivered up to sack, -- by which phrase is to be understood the perpetration of all those outrages which the ruthless code of war allowed, in that age, on the persons and property of the defenseless inhabitants, without regard to sex or age.
--Prescott.

Sack \Sack\, v. t.

1. To put in a sack; to bag; as, to sack corn.

   Bolsters sacked in cloth, blue and crimson.
   --L. Wallace.

2. To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders.

Sack \Sack\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Sacking.] [See Sack pillage.] To plunder or pillage, as a town or city; to devastate; to ravage.

The Romans lay under the apprehensions of seeing their city sacked by a barbarous enemy.
--Addison.

Sack \Sack\ (s[a^]k), n. [OE. seck, F. sec dry (cf. Sp. seco, It. secco), from L. siccus dry, harsh; perhaps akin to Gr. 'ischno`s, Skr. sikata sand, Ir. sesc dry, W. hysp. Cf. Desiccate.] A name formerly given to various dry Spanish wines. ``Sherris sack.''
--Shak.

Sack posset, a posset made of sack, and some other ingredients.

Sack \Sack\, n. [OE. sak, sek, AS. sacc, s[ae]cc, L. saccus, Gr. sa`kkos from Heb. sak; cf. F. sac, from the Latin. Cf. Sac, Satchel, Sack to plunder.]

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.
   --McElrath.

3. [Perhaps a different word.] Originally, a loosely hanging garment 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 sack. [Written also sacque.]

4. A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam.

5. (Biol.) See 2d Sac, 2.

6. Bed. [Colloq.]

   Sack bearer (Zo["o]l.). See Basket worm, under Basket.

   Sack tree (Bot.), 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.

   To hit the sack, to go to bed. [Slang]

"a dismissal from work," 1825, from sack (n.1), perhaps from the notion of the worker going off with his tools in a bag; the original formula was to give (someone) the sack. It is attested earlier in French (on luy a donné son sac, 17c.) and Dutch (iemand de zak geven).

"sherry," 1530s, alteration of French vin sec "dry wine," from Latin siccus "dry" (see siccative).

"to plunder," 1540s, from Middle French sac, in the phrase mettre à sac "put it in a bag," a military leader's command to his troops to plunder a city (parallel to Italian sacco, with the same range of meaning), from Vulgar Latin *saccare "to plunder," originally "to put plundered things into a sack," from Latin saccus "bag" (see sack (n.1)). The notion is probably of putting booty in a bag.

"plunder; act of plundering, the plundering of a city or town after storming and capture," 1540s, from French sac "pillage, plunder," from Italian sacco (see sack (v.1)).

"large bag," Old English sacc (West Saxon), sec (Mercian), sæc (Old Kentish) "large cloth bag," also "sackcloth," from Proto-Germanic *sakkiz (cognates: Middle Dutch sak, Old High German sac, Old Norse sekkr, but Gothic sakkus probably is directly from Greek), an early borrowing from Latin saccus (also source of Old French sac, Spanish saco, Italian sacco), from Greek sakkos, from Semitic (compare Hebrew saq "sack").\n

\nThe wide spread of the word is probably due to the Biblical story of Joseph, in which a sack of corn figures (Gen. xliv). Baseball slang sense of "a base" is attested from 1913. Slang meaning "bunk, bed" is from 1825, originally nautical. The verb meaning "go to bed" is recorded from 1946. Sack race attested from 1805.

"put in a bag," late 14c., from sack (n.1). Related: Sacked; sacking.

type of U.S. football play, 1969, from sack (v.1) in the sense of "to plunder" or sack (v.2) on the notion of "put in a bag." As a noun from 1972.

"dismiss from work," 1841, from sack (n.2). Related: Sacked; sacking.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodity, such as potatoes, coal, coffee; or, a bag with handles used at a supermarket, a grocery sack; or, a small bag for small items, a satchel. 2 The amount a sack holds; also, an archaic or historical measure of varying capacity, depending on commodity type and according to local usage; an old English measure of weight, usually of wool, equal to 13 stone (182 pounds), or in other sources, 26 stone (364 pounds). 3 (context uncountable English) The plunder and pillage of a captured town or city. 4 (context uncountable English) loot or booty obtained by pillage. 5 (context American football English) A successful tackle of the quarterback. ''See verb sense³ below''. 6 (context baseball English) One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base. 7 (context informal English) Dismissal from employment, or discharge from a position, usually as '''give (someone) the sack''' or '''get the sack'''. ''See verb sense⁴ below.'' 8 (context colloquial US English) bed; usually as '''hit the sack''' or '''in the sack'''. ''See also'' '''sack out'''. 9 (context dated English) (also '''sacque''') A kind of loose-fitting gown or dress with sleeves which hangs from the shoulders, such as a gown with a http://en.wikipedi

1. org/wiki/1700-1750_in_fashion%23Women.27s_fashion or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack-back%20gown, fashionable in the late 17th to 18th century; or, formerly, a loose-fitting hip-length jacket, cloak or cape. 10 (context dated English) A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam. 11 (context vulgar slang English) The scrotum. v

2. 1 To put in a sack or sacks. 2 To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders. 3 To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from. 4 (context American football English) To tackle, usually to tackle the offensive quarterback behind the line of scrimmage before he is able to throw a pass. 5 (context informal English) To discharge from a job or position; to fire. 6 (context colloquial English) In the phrase '''sack out''', to fall asleep. ''See also'' '''hit the sack'''. Etymology 2

   n. (context dated English) A variety of light-colored dry wine from Spain or the Canary Islands; also, any strong white wine from southern Europe; sherry. Etymology 3

   n. {{alternative spelling of|(l en sac id=sacrifice n)|lang=en}} vb. {{alternative spelling of|(l en sac id=sacrifice v)|lang=en}}

1. v. plunder (a town) after capture; "the barbarians sacked Rome" [syn: plunder]

2. terminate the employment of; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" [syn: fire, give notice, can, dismiss, give the axe, send away, force out, give the sack, terminate] [ant: hire]

3. make as a net profit; "The company cleared $1 million" [syn: net, sack up, clear]

4. put in a sack; "The grocer sacked the onions"

1. n. a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases [syn: poke, paper bag, carrier bag]

2. an enclosed space; "the trapped miners found a pocket of air" [syn: pouch, sac, pocket]

3. the quantity contained in a sack [syn: sackful]

4. any of various light dry strong white wine from Spain and Canary Islands (including sherry)

5. a woman's full loose hiplength jacket [syn: sacque]

6. a hanging bed of canvas or rope netting (usually suspended between two trees); swing easily [syn: hammock]

7. a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist [syn: chemise, shift]

8. the plundering of a place by an army or mob; usually involves destruction and slaughter; "the sack of Rome"

9. the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart) [syn: dismissal, dismission, discharge, firing, liberation, release, sacking]

Sack may refer to:

• Sack, a slack bag without handles
  • Money sack
  • Stuff sack
  • Gunny sack
• Ball sack, slang for scrotum
• Selective acknowledgement (SACK), in computer networking
• Sack, an obsolete Middle Age measurement of weight in England equivalent to 26 stone
  • Sack, more recently used as a unit of dry measure, equivalent to three bushels
• Quarterback sack, a tackle of the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage in American and Canadian football
• Sack (band), an Irish band
• Sack (comics), a Marvel Comics villain
• Sack (surname), a surname
• Sack (wine), a type of white fortified wine
• Sack, a sweet form of mead (wine)
• Sack, Zurich, a village in the Swiss canton of Zurich
• Bed
  • Sleeping bag
• Sackcloth (Hebrew sak), a garment of mourning or humility mentioned frequently in the Bible
• Dismissal (employment), dismiss/fire/terminate an employee from a job
• Ransack, the indiscriminate taking of goods by force

Sack is a five-piece Irish band, based in Dublin. To date the band has released three albums: You Are What You Eat, Butterfly Effect and Adventura Majestica. The band formed after the demise of Lord John White.

Their first single "What Did The Christians Ever Do For Us?" was single of the week in both the NME and Melody Maker. They have supported Morrissey on two tours taking in mainland Europe, the UK and Ireland and the United States and supported the likes of The Fall, Boo Radleys among others. They have gigged sporadically in recent years and are planning to record new material.

The band describe their sound as "Frank Sinatra fronting the Pixies".

The band appeared on the Morrissey-endorsed NME CD Songs to Save Your Life, while "Laughter Lines" appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Carrie 2: The Rage.

Sack is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Brian Sack, American actor and humorist
• Erna Sack, German opera singer (soprano)
• John Sack, American journalist
• Karl Sack, (1896-1946), German jurist and member of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in World War II
• Peter Sack, German shot putter
• Robert D. Sack, American judge
• Robert L. Sack, American physician
• Steve Sack, American editorial cartoonist

Fictional characters:

• Johnny Sack, character in The Sopranos

The sack (abbreviation: sck.) was an English unit of weight or mass used for coal and wool.

Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to white fortified wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands. There was sack of different origins such as:

• Canary sack from the Canary Islands,
• Malaga sack from Málaga,
• Palm sack from Palma de Mallorca, and
• Sherris sack from Jerez de la Frontera

The term Sherris sack later gave way to sherry as the English term for fortified wine from Jerez. Since sherry is practically the only one of these wines still widely exported and consumed, "sack" (by itself, without qualifier) is commonly but not quite correctly quoted as an old synonym for sherry.

Most sack was probably sweet, and matured in wooden barrels for a limited time. In modern terms, typical sack may have resembled cheaper versions of medium Oloroso sherry.

Today, sack is sometimes seen included in the name of some sherries, perhaps most commonly as the Williams & Humbert brand "Dry Sack".