rack-rent [rak-rent] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- Also rack rent. rent equal to or nearly equal to the full annual value of a property.
verb (used with object)
- to exact the highest possible rent for.
- to demand rack-rent from.
Origin of rack-rent First recorded in 1600–10 Related formsrack-rent·er, noun Examples from the Web for rack-rent Historical Examples of rack-rent
He and his successors contracted to pay a full or rack-rent of xijd.
A History of Giggleswick School
Edward Allen Bell
Those who carry snuff-boxes are only his tenants; and hold them merely by virtue of a rack-rent, under him.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, December 11, 1841
Various
Thus, how miserable is the condition of the peasants in Russia, of the Irish “rack-rent” tenants!
Socialism and the Social Movement in the 19th Century
Werner Sombart
Another common term is found in the word Head-rent, of which Gladstonians know no more than of Rack-rent.
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Will they rack-rent their tenants in such a manner as to deprive them of the means of improving the estate?
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. I (of 16)
Thomas Hart Benton
British Dictionary definitions for rack-rent rack-rent noun
- a high rent that annually equals or nearly equals the value of the property upon which it is charged
- any extortionate rent
verb
- to charge an extortionate rent for (property, land, etc)
Derived Formsrack-renter, nounWord Origin for rack-rent C17: from rack 1 (sense 12) + rent 1