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Sack vs Sag - What's the difference?

sack | sag |

As a noun sack

is sack; a bag.

As an initialism sag is

(on a letter), saint anthony guard (or guide).

As an acronym sag is

screen actors guild.

sack

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . (Sense evolution) * “Pillage” senses from the use of sacks in carrying off plunder. From (etyl) . ''See also ransack. American football “tackle” sense from this “plunder, conquer” root. * “Removal from employment” senses attested since 1825; the original formula was “to give (someone) the sack”, likely from the notion of a worker going off with his tools in a sack, or being given such a sack for his personal belongings as part of an expedient severance. Idiom exists earlier in (etyl) (on luy a donné son sac'', 17c.) and (etyl) (iemand den zak geven). English verb in this sense recorded from 1841. Current verb, ''to sack (“to fire”) carries influence from the forceful nature of “plunder, tackle” verb senses. * Slang meaning “bunk, bed” is attested since 1825, originally nautical, likely in reference to sleeping bags. The verb meaning “go to bed” is recorded from 1946.

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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.
  • 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. — McElrath.
  • * 1843 , The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge , Vol. 27, page 202
    • Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6 1/2 tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. [...] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.
  • * 1882 , , A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 4, page 209
    • Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stone.
  • (uncountable) The plunder and pillaging of a captured town or city.
    • The sack of Rome.
  • (uncountable) Loot or booty obtained by pillage.
  • (American football) A successful tackle of the quarterback. See verb sense3 below .
  • (baseball) One of the square bases anchored at first base, second base, or third base.
    • He twisted his ankle sliding into the sack at second.
  • (informal) Dismissal from employment, or discharge from a position, usually as give (someone) the sack' or '''get the sack . ''See verb sense4 below.
    • The boss is gonna give her the sack today.
    He got the sack for being late all the time.
  • (colloquial, US) Bed; usually as hit the sack' or '''in the sack'''. ''See also'' ' sack out .
  • (dated) (also sacque ) A kind of loose-fitting gown or dress with sleeves which hangs from the shoulders, such as a gown with a , fashionable in the late 17th to 18th century; or, formerly, a loose-fitting hip-length jacket, cloak or cape.
  • * 1749 , , Google Books
    • Molly, therefore, having dressed herself out in this sack , with a new laced cap, and some other ornaments which Tom had given her, repairs to church with her fan in her hand the very next Sunday.
  • (dated) A sack coat; a kind of coat worn by men, and extending from top to bottom without a cross seam.
  • (vulgar, slang) The scrotum.
    • He got passed the ball, but it hit him in the sack .
    Synonyms
    * (bag) bag, tote, poke (obsolete) * the axe]], pink slip, the boot, the chop, the elbow, one's cards, [[give somebody the heave-ho, the old heave-ho * hay, rack * ballsack, ball sack, nutsack
    Hyponyms
    * (bag) bindle
    Derived terms
    * * ballsack, ball sack * bivouac sack * cat in the sack * dub sack * get the sack, give the sack * gunny sack, gunnysack * hacky sack, hackysack * Hacky-Sack, hackeysack, * hit the sack * in the sack * nutsack * sackcloth * sack race * sackful * sacking (n. ) * sad sack
    Related terms
    * sac * sachet * satchel * haversack * knapsack * rucksack

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To put in a sack or sacks.
    • Help me sack the groceries.
  • * 1903 , ,
    • The gold was sacked in moose-hide bags, fifty pounds to the bag
  • To bear or carry in a sack upon the back or the shoulders.
  • To plunder or pillage, especially after capture; to obtain spoils of war from.
    • The barbarians sacked Rome.
  • * 1898 , ,
    • It [a lyre] was part of the spoils which he had taken when he sacked the city of Eetion
  • (American football) To tackle, usually to tackle the offensive quarterback behind the line of scrimmage before he is able to throw a pass.
  • * 1995 , John Crumpacker and Gwen Knapp, " Sack-happy defensive line stuns Dolphins", SFGate.com, November 21,
    • 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.
  • (informal) To discharge from a job or position; to fire.
    • He was sacked last September.
  • * 1999 , " Russian media mogul dismisses Yeltsin's bid to sack him", CNN.com, March 5,
  • (colloquial) In the phrase sack out', to fall asleep. ''See also'' ' hit the sack .
    • The kids all sacked out before 9:00 on New Year’s Eve.
    Synonyms
    * loot, ransack * (to remove someone from a job) can, dismiss, fire, lay off, let go, terminate, make redundant, give the axe, give the boot, give (someone) their cards, give the chop]], give the elbow, give the old heave-ho, See also : [[Wikisaurus:lay off * rack
    Derived terms
    * sackable * sacker * sack out

    Etymology 2

    From earlier (wyne)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A variety of light-colored dry wine from Spain or the Canary Islands; also, any strong white wine from southern Europe; sherry.
  • *
    • Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack'? ...I ne'er drank ' sack in my life...
  • *
    • Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack'...let a cup of '''sack''' be my poison...Wherein is he good, but to taste ' sack and drink it?
  • * 1610 , , act 2 scene 2
    • How didst thou 'scape? How cam'st thou hither? swear / by this bottle how thou cam'st hither—I escaped upon / a butt of sack , which the sailors heaved overboard, by / this bottle! [...]
    Derived terms
    * sack-whey

    Etymology 3

    Verb

    (en verb)

    • Noun

    (en noun)

    • See also

    * (wikipedia "sack") *

    Anagrams

    * *

    sag

    English

    Etymology 1

    From late (etyl) saggen, probably of Scandinavian/(etyl) origin (compare Norwegian ); probably akin to Danish and Norwegian sakke, Swedish sacka, Icelandic sakka, Old Norse sokkva. Compare also Low German sacken, Dutch zakken.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The state of sinking or bending; sagging.
  • The difference in elevation of a wire, cable, chain or rope suspended between two consecutive points.
  • The difference height or depth between the vertex and the rim of a curved surface, specifically used for optical elements such as a mirror or lens.

    • Verb

    (sagg)
  • To sink, in the middle, by its weight or under applied pressure, below a horizontal line or plane.
    • A line or cable supported by its ends sags , even if it is tightly drawn.
    The floor of a room sags .
  • To lean, give way, or settle from a vertical position.
    • A building may sag one way or another.
    The door sags on its hinges.
  • (figuratively) To lose firmness, elasticity, vigor, or a thriving state; to sink; to droop; to flag; to bend; to yield, as the mind or spirits, under the pressure of care, trouble, doubt, or the like; to be unsettled or unbalanced.
  • * Shakespeare
    • The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, / Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.
  • To loiter in walking; to idle along; to drag or droop heavily.
  • To cause to bend or give way; to load.
  • (informal) To wear one's trousers so that their top is well below the waist.
    • Quotations
    * (English Citations of "sag")

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (-)
  • * 2003 , Charles Campion, The Rough Guide to London Restaurants (page 173)
    • The dal tarka (£5) is made from whole yellow split peas, while sag aloo (£5) brings potatoes in a rich and oily spinach puree.

    Anagrams

    * ----