rankness 
4. Strength of growth: rapid or excessive in- 
rease: exuberance: extravagance; excess, as 
of plants, or of tin- wood of trees. r v! itikm^s is a 
condition often incident to fruit-trees in gardens anil or- 
chards, in consfijiu-nce of ultidi >, r reat shoots or feeders 
are given out with little or no hearing wood. Excessive 
richness of soil and a too copious supply of manure are 
generally the inducing causes. 
I am stifled 
With the mere rankness of their joy. 
Shale., Hen. VIII., iv. 1. 59. 
5. Excessive fertility; exuberant productive- 
ness, as of soil. 
By reason of the rankenesse. and frutefulnesse of the 
grounde, kyne, swyne, and horses doo maruelously in- 
crease in these regions. 
I'eter Martyr (tr. of Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
[Arber, p. 164). 
Bred by the rankness of the plenteous land. 
Drayton, Legend of Thomas Cromwell. 
6. Offensive or noisome smell or taste ; repul- 
siveness to the senses. 
The native rankneis or offensiveness which some persons 
are subject to, both in their breath and constitution. 
./(. Taylor (-), Artificial Handsomeness, p. 46. 
rank-plane (rangk'plan), . The plane of a 
plane pencil. 
rank-point (rangk'point), n. The focus of a 
plane pencil. 
rank-radiant (rangk'ra"di-ant), M. A point 
considered as the envelop of lines lying in a 
plane. 
rank-ridingt (rangk'ri"ding), . Riding furi- 
ously; hard-riding. 
And on his match as much the Western horseman lays 
As the rank-riding Scots upon their Galloways. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, iii. 28. 
rank-scented (rangk'sen'ted), a. Strong-scent- 
ed; having a coarse or offensive odor. 
The mutable, rank-scented many. Shalt., Cor., iii. 1. 66. 
rank-surface (rangk'ser"fas), H. A surface con- 
sidered as the envelop of its tangents. 
rann, . See ran 3 . 
rannee, . See rant. 
rannelt (ran'el), . [< F. ranelle, toad, dim. of 
L. rana, frog.] A strumpet; a prostitute. 
such a roinish rannel, such a dissolute Gillian-flirt. 
Q. Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation (1600). 
rannel-balk (ran'el-bak). . Same as raiidlc- 
bar. 
rannent. A Middle English preterit plural of 
run. Chaucer. 
rannyt (ran'i), . [Also runney ; supposed to be 
ult. a corruption (through OF. ) of L. araneus, sc. 
mus, a kind of mouse : see slirew and araneons.] 
Tlie shrew or shrew-mouse, Sorex araneus. 
Sainmonicus and Nicander do call the mus araneus, the 
shrew or ranney, blind. Sir T. Broicne, Vulg. Err., iii. 18. 
ranoid (ra'noid), a. [< L. raa, a frog, + Gr. 
rMof, form.] In lierpet., same as raiiine: dis- 
tinguished from bufonoid. 
ranpickt, ranpiket, " Same as rampick. 
ransack (ran'sak), . [Prop, ransake, the form 
rannack being due in part to association with 
sack' 2 , pillage (see def. 2); < ME. ransakeu. 
ransakyn, raunnaken, < Icel. rannsaka (= Sw. 
Norw. ransaka = Dan. ransage), search a house, 
ransack, < rann (for *rasn), a house, abode (= 
AS. reesn, a plank, ceiling, = Goth, rncn, a 
house), + saka, fight, hurt, harm, appar. taken 
in this compound with the sense of the related 
xeekj/i, seek, = AS. secan, seek: see seek and 
snAr.] I. trans. 1. To search thoroughly ; seek 
carefully in all parts of ; explore, point by point, 
for what is desired; overhaul in detail. 
In a morwenyng 
When Phehus, with his flry torches rede, 
Ransaked hath every lover in hys drede. 
Chaucer, Complaint of liars, 1. 28. 
All the articlis there in conteynid they shall ransakyn 
besyly, and discnssyn soo discretly in here remembraunce 
that both in will . . . shal not omyttyn for to complishe 
the seyd articles. Ponton Letters, I. 458. 
In the third Year of his Reign, he ransacked all Monas- 
teries, and all the Gold and Silver of either Chalices or 
Shrines he took to his own use. Baker, Chronicles, p. 26. 
Cicero . . . ramacks all nature, and pours forth a re- 
dundancy of figures even with a lavish hand. 
Goldsmith, Metaphors. 
2f. To sack; pillage completely; strip by 
plundering. 
Their vow is made 
To ransack Troy. 
5Ao*., T. and (:, Prol., i., 1. & 
I observed only these two things, a village exceedingly 
ransacked and ruinated by meanes of the civil warres. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 23. 
3f. To obtain by ransacking or pillage ; seize 
upon; carry off; ravish. 4f. To violate; de- 
flower: as, "rtnisiiekt chastity," Spenser. 
4958 
II. inlrtins. To make penetrating seaivh or 
inquisition: pry; ruiiimugc. [Obsolete or rare.] 
With sacrilegious Tools we rudely n-nil In r. 
And ransack deeply in her bosom tender. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas s Weeks, i. 6. 
Such words he gaue, but deepe with dynt the sword 
enforced furst 
Had rauxakl through his ribs and sweete white brest at 
once had burst. Phaer, MneiA, ix. 
ransack (ran'sak), n. [C'f. Icel. niininiil:. ruini- 
sokn, a ransacking; from the verb.] 1. De- 
tailed search or inquisition ; careful investiga- 
tion. [Rare.] 
What secret corner, what unwonted way, 
Has scap'd the raneack of my rambling thought? 
(fuarles, Emblems, iv. 12. 
To compile, however, a real account of her [Madame 
R^camier) would necessitate the ranmct of all the 
memoirs, correspondence, and anccdotage concerning 
French political and literary life for the first half of this 
century. Encyc. Brit,, XX. 309. 
2f. A ransacking; search for plunder; pillage; 
sack. 
Your Highness undertook the Protection of the English 
VesselsputtingintothePortof Leghorn for shelter, against 
the Dutch Men of War threatning 'em with nothing but 
Ransack and Destruction. 
Milton, Letters of State, Sept., 1652. 
Even your father's house 
Shall not be free from ransack. J. Webster. 
ransackert (ran'sak-er), n. [< ME. raunxukir; 
< rauxark + -er 1 .] One who ransacks; a care- 
ful searcher; a pillager. 
That e to say, Rauwaker of the myghtc of Godd and of 
His Maieste with-owttene gret clennes and meknes sail be 
onerlayde and oppresside of Hym-selfe. 
Ilampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 42. 
ransaket, '' An obsolete form of ruiixack. 
ranshacklet (ran'shak-1), r. t. A variant of 
ranxack, simulating ramshackle 1 . 
They loosed the kye out, ane and a'. 
And ranshackled the house right wel. 
Jamie Telfer (Child's Ballads, VI. 106). 
ransom (ran'sum), n. [Early mod. E. also raw- 
some, rannsom; < ME. ransome, raunsom, rawn- 
some, ransoii, ransoun, raunson, raunsun, rawni- 
K<m (for the change of n to m, cf. random) = 
D. rantsoeti = MLG. LG. ranzun, raiisun = G. 
rnnsion = Dan. ranxon = Sw. ranson, < OF. 
rf0, renqon, mention, raenchon, F. ranfon = 
Pr. recmsoft, resempto,raoA. ra>;oun,<. L. redemp- 
tio(n-), ransom, redemption : see redemption, of 
which ransom is a much shrunken form.] 1. 
Redemption for a price ; a holding for redemp- 
tion ; also, release from captivity, bondage, or 
the possession of an enemy for a consideration ; 
liberation on payment or satisfaction of the 
price demanded. 
And Galashin seide than sholde he dye with-oute raun- 
som. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 571. 
Yon beseche and pray. 
Fair sir, saue my life, lete me on-lif go, 
Taking this peple to ranson also ! 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4205. 
Then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever 
is laid upon him. Ex. xxi. 30. 
The Money raised for his Ransom was not so properly 
a Taxation as a Contribution. Baker, Chronicles, p. 66. 
2. The money or price awarded or paid for the 
redemption of a prisoner, captive, or slave, or 
for goods captured by an enemy ; payment for 
liberation from restraint, penalty, or punish- 
ment. 
Vpon a crosse naylyd I was for the, 
Soffred deth to pay the ravrnison. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 111. 
Even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 
Mark x. 45. 
3f. Atonement; expiation. 
If hearty sorrow 
Be a sufficient ransom for offence, 
I tender 't here. Shot., T. G. of V., v. 4. 75. 
ransom (ran'sum), r. t. [Early mod. E. also 
raunsome; < ME. *raunsonen, raunceounen, < 
OF. ranfouiier, ransom; from the noun.] 1. 
To redeem from captivity, bondage, forfeit, or 
punishment by paying or giving in return that 
which is demanded ; buy out of servitude ; buy 
off from penalty. 
A robbere was yraunceouned rather than thei alle, 
With-outen any penaunce of purgatorie, to perpetuel 
blisse. Piers Plowman (B), x. 420. 
This was hard fortune ; but, if alive and taken, 
They shall be ransom'd, let it be at millions. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, ii. 4. 
Walk your dim cloister, and distribute dole 
To poor sick people, richer in His eyes 
Who rantom'd us, and haler too. than I. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
2f. To redeem; rescue; deliver. 
I will ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will 
redeem them from death. Ho*, xiii. 14. 
rant 
3t. To hold at ransom; demand or accept a 
ransom for: exact payment on. 
And he and hys company . . . dyilc great domage to 
the countre, as well by rrt/rii*"/u///!/i t>f tlic !m\ nrs as by 
pillage imcr all the countrey. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart's Chron., II. (Kiehuntani.) 
4f. To set free for a price; give up the cus- 
tody of on receipt of a consideration. 
I would . . . ransmn him to any French courtier for a 
new-devised courtesy. Shak., L. L. I.., i. 2. lift. 
5f. To atone for; expiate. 
Those tears are pearl which thy love sheds, 
And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds. 
Shak., Sonnets, xxxiv. 
ransomable (ran'sum-a-bl), a. [< ransom + 
-alili'.] Capable of being ransomed or redeemed 
for a price. 
I passed my life in that bath with many other gentle- 
men and persons of condition, distinguished and ac- 
counted as rantomable. 
Jarvis, tr. of Don Quixote, I. iv. 13. (Dailies.) 
ransom-bill (ran'sum-bil), n. A war contract 
by which it is agreed to pay money for the 
ransom of property captured at sea and for its 
safe-conduct into port. 
ransomer (ran'sum-er), n. [Early mod. E. 
ruiinsomer, < OF. rangonneur, < rani; onner, ran- 
som: see ransom, .] One who ransoms or 
redeems. 
The onlie sauior, redeemer, and raunsomcr of them 
which were lost in Adam our forefather. 
Foxe, Martyre, an. 1565. 
ransom-free (ran'sum-fre), a. Free from ran- 
som; ransom less. 
Till the fair slave be render'd to her sire, 
And ransom-free restor'd to his abode. 
Dryden, Iliad, i. 147. 
ransomless (ran'sum-les), a. [< ransom + 
-less.] Free from ransom; without the pay- 
ment of ransom. 
Cosroe, Cassana, and the rest, be free, 
And ransomless return ! 
Fletcher (and another T), Prophetess, iv. 5. 
For this brave stranger, so indear'd to thee, 
Passe to thy country, ranmmleste and free. 
Ueywood, Fair Maid of the West (Works, ed. Pearson, 
[1874, II. 423). 
ranstead (ran'sted), . [Also ranxted; fre- 
quently also ramstfad, ramsted; said to have 
been introduced at Philadelphia as a garden 
flower by a Welsh gentleman named Sanstead.'] 
The common toad-flax, Linnria rulyaris, a weed 
with herbage of rank odor, erect stem, narrow 
leaves, and a raceme of spurred flowers, col- 
ored light-yellow, part of the lower lip bright- 
orange. 
rant (rant), v. i. [< OD. ranten, also ratidcn, 
dote, be enraged, = LG. randen, attack any 
one, call out to any one, = G. ranzen, toss 
about, make a noise; cf. G. dial, rant, noise, 
uproar; root uncertain.] 1. To speak or de- 
claim violently and with little sense; rave: 
used of both the matter and the manner of 
utterance, or of either alone: as, a ranting 
preacher or actor. 
Viy. an thou'lt month, 
I'll rant as well as thou. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 1. 307. 
They say you're angry, and rant mightily, 
Because I love the same as you. 
Couley, The Mistress, Rich Rival. 
Make not your Hecuba with fury rage, 
And show a ranting grief upon the stage. 
Dryden and Soames, tr. of Boileau s Art of Poetry, iii. 563. 
2. To be jovial or jolly in a noisy way ; make 
noisy mirth. [North. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Wi' quaffing and laughing, 
They ranted and they sang. 
Burnt, Jolly Beggars. 
rant (rant), n. [< rant, r.] 1. Boisterous, 
empty declamation; fierce or high-sounding 
language without much meaning or dignity of 
thought; bombast. 
This is stoical rant, without any foundation in the na- 
ture of man or reason of things. Atterbury. 
2. A ranting speech; a bombastic or boisterous 
utterance. 
After all their rants about their wise man being happy 
in the bull of Phalaris, Ac., they yet allow'd him to dis- 
patch himself if he saw cause. Sialiivjfleet, Sermons, I. v. 
He sometimes, indeed, in his rants, talked with Norman 
haughtiness of the Celtic barbarians ; but all his sympa- 
thies were really with the natives. 
Macavlay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
3. The act of frolicking; a frolic; a boister- 
ous merrymaking, generally accompanied with 
dancing. [Scotch.] 
Thou art the life o' public haunts ; 
But [without] thee, what were our fairs and rants ? 
Burns, Scotch Drink. 
