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PlainSpell

sack

/sæk/noun, verb

sack is spelled S-A-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sac vs sack” about 390 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, sack means “A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodities, such as potatoes, coal, coffee; or, a bag…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sack is sacks.

How many letters and syllables are in sack?

Letters4: S-A-C-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.1 times per million words; the 8,146th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is sack?

Sack appears 8.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,146th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce sack?

  • US /sæk/
  • British /sak/
  • /sɛk/

Sack has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sack.ogg, En-au-sack.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with sack

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

sac vs sack390 G

Sounds like: sac (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: sac.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with sack?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as sack from its last stressed vowel (/æk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: cask.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of sack

  • sacks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • sacking participle, present
  • sacked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sack mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A bag; especially a large bag of strong, coarse material for storage and handling of various commodities, 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. 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).

    The American sack of salt is 215 pounds; the sack of wheat, two bushels. – .

  3. 3

    The plunder and pillaging of a captured town or city.

    the sack of Rome

  4. 4

    Loot or booty obtained by pillage.

  5. 5

    A successful tackle of the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage.

  6. 6

    One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base.

    He twisted his ankle sliding into the sack at second.

  7. 7

    informalDismissal from employment, or discharge from a position.

    give (someone) the sack

  8. 8

    UScolloquialBed.

    hit the sack

  9. 9

    datedA variety of light-colored dry wine from Spain or the Canary Islands; also, any strong white wine from southern Europe; sherry.

  10. 10

    datedDated form of sac (“pouch in a plant or animal”).

  11. 11

    Alternative spelling of sac (“sacrifice”).

verb

  1. 1

    To put in a sack or sacks.

    Help me sack the groceries.

  2. 2

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

  3. 3

    To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from.

    The barbarians sacked Rome in 410 CE.

  4. 4

    To tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, especially before he is able to throw a pass.

    On third down, the rejuvenated Rickey Jackson stormed in over All-Pro left tackle Richmond Webb to sack Marino yet again for a 2-yard loss.

  5. 5

    informalTo discharge from a job or position; to fire.

    He was sacked last September.

  6. 6

    AustraliaslangTo give up on, to abandon, delay, to not think about someone or something.

    Sack the homework.

  7. 7

    Alternative spelling of sac (“sacrifice”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sack in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsac (bag for commodities or items), butin (booty obtained by pillage), paquet (informal: dismissal from employment), lit, pieu (colloquial: bed), saccager (to plunder)
GermanSack, Papiersack, Beutel, Tüte (bag for commodities or items), Sack voll, Sackvoll (amount that can be put in a sack; traditional…)
Portuguesesaco, saca (bag for commodities or items), despedido (informal: dismissal from employment), saque (the plunder and pillaging of a city), ensacar (to put in a sack or sacks)
Spanishsaco, costal, chácara, shicra, shigra, bayón (bag for commodities or items)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does sack come from?

From Middle English sak, sek, sach, zech (“bag, sackcloth”), from Old English sacc (“sack, bag”) and sæċċ (“sackcloth, sacking”); both from Proto-West Germanic *sakku, from late Proto-Germanic *sakkuz (“sack”), borrowed from Latin saccus (“large bag”), from Ancient Greek σάκκος (sákkos, “bag of coarse cloth”), from Semitic, possibly Phoenician or Hebrew.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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