What does sacks mean?
“Sacks” most commonly refers to large bags made from materials such as cloth, paper, or plastic. Such sacks have traditionally been used for storing and transporting agricultural goods, especially grain and flour, and the plural form naturally suggests either several containers or a considerable quantity of what they hold. In contemporary British English, sack also has an informal employment sense: to sack someone is to dismiss them, while expressions such as get the sack convey sudden dismissal or rejection. A more formal and largely historical use of the verb means to plunder or loot a place during capture or warfare. The word can additionally denote coarse fabric historically called sack. Although “bag” is often the more neutral modern term, sack remains established in phrases associated with storage, agriculture, employment, and military history.
The plural form of sack: large bags or containers, usually made of cloth, paper, or plastic and used for carrying or storing materials.
"The shopkeeper stacked the paper sacks beside the counter."
The noun is neutral in tone, though sack is more traditional than bag in many modern contexts.
The third-person singular form of sack: to dismiss someone from a job or role, or in a formal historical sense, to plunder or loot a place.
"The manager sacks underperforming employees at the end of each quarter."
The dismissal sense is informal and especially common in British English; the plunder sense is formal and usually military or historical.
Sacks is the regular plural of sack. The idioms get the sack and give someone the sack instead use the singular base form.
"They carried several sacks of grain to the mill."
A grain sack can hold the harvest; in British workplace slang, getting the sack means losing your job.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of sacks
The noun descends from Middle English sack, from Old English sacc, a Germanic borrowing of Latin saccus, meaning “bag.” Latin saccus in turn comes from Greek sakkos, a large bag. The verb meaning “to dismiss” developed through figurative employment usage, whereas the sense “to plunder” belongs to the older military vocabulary; related forms include satchel and sacque, both of which trace their histories to Latin saccus or its diminutives.
Related word forms
How sacks is actually used
The noun is neutral in register, though sack is somewhat traditional or dated when contrasted with bag in general modern use. As a verb, sack is informal; its dismissal sense is especially associated with British English, although “fire” is more common in American English. The sense meaning “to plunder” is formal and often military or historical.
Easily confused with sacks
Sacks are bags or containers, whereas sacs are pouch-like biological structures and a sac is singular.