(slang) dismiss or discharge, as from a job. Years ago, when a person was dismissed from a job, he literally got the sack. A workman owned his own tools of trade and carried them around in a sack. When he got a job, the employer would lookafter his tools, but when the worker was no longer needed or wanted, he would be given back his sack and told to look for work elsewhere. —State of ManCongress Approved Gls (14.5.92)