Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
rack 1[rak] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for rack on Thesaurus.com noun
- a framework of bars, wires, or pegs on which articles are arranged or deposited: a clothes rack; a luggage rack.
- a fixture containing several tiered shelves, often affixed to a wall: a book rack; a spice rack.
- a spreading framework set on a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or the like, in large loads.
- Pool.
- a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play.
- the balls so arranged: He took aim at the rack.
- Machinery.
- a bar, with teeth on one of its sides, adapted to engage with the teeth of a pinion (rack and pinion) or the like, as for converting circular into rectilinear motion or vice versa.
- a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like.
- a former instrument of torture consisting of a framework on which a victim was tied, often spread-eagled, by the wrists and ankles, to be slowly stretched by spreading the parts of the framework.
- a cause or state of intense suffering of body or mind.
- torment; anguish.
- violent strain.
- a pair of antlers.
- Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk: I spent all afternoon in the rack.
verb (used with object)
- to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain.
- to strain in mental effort: to rack one’s brains.
- to strain by physical force or violence.
- to strain beyond what is normal or usual.
- to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack.
- Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side.
Verb Phrases
- rack out, Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep: I racked out all afternoon.
- rack up,
- Pool.to put (the balls) in a rack.
- Informal.to tally, accumulate, or amass as an achievement or score: The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.
Origin of rack 1 1250–1300; Middle English rakke, rekke (noun) Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck Related formsrack·ing·ly, adverbCan be confusedrack wrack wreak wreckracked wracked wreaked wreckedSynonyms for rack See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 7. torture, pain, agony, tribulation, ordeal. 12. See torment. rack 2[rak] noun
- ruin or destruction; wrack.
Verb Phrases
- rack up, Slang. to wreck, especially a vehicle.
Idioms
- go to rack and ruin, to decay, decline, or become destroyed: His property went to rack and ruin in his absence.
Origin of rack 2First recorded in 1590–1600; variant of wrack1 rack 3[rak] noun
- the fast pace of a horse in which the legs move in lateral pairs but not simultaneously.
verb (used without object)
- (of horses) to move in a rack.
Origin of rack 3First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of rock2 rack 4or wrack [rak] noun
- Also called cloud rack. a group of drifting clouds.
verb (used without object)
- to drive or move, especially before the wind.
Origin of rack 4 1350–1400; Middle English rak, reck(e); origin uncertain rack 5[rak] verb (used with object)
- to draw off (wine, cider, etc.) from the lees.
Origin of rack 5 1425–75; late Middle English Old French; compare obsolete French raqué (of wine) pressed from the dregs of grapes rack 6[rak] noun
- the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.
- the rib section of a foresaddle of lamb, mutton, or sometimes veal.
Origin of rack 6First recorded in 1560–70; origin uncertain Related Words for rack box, shelf, counter, bed, furniture, torment, wrench, afflict, shake, perch, receptacle, trestle, bracket, stand, ledge, holder, structure, arbor, crucify, pull Examples from the Web for rack Contemporary Examples of rack
The clever crooks managed to rack up $2 million in profits over a year, Ares said.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks
M.L. Nestel
December 19, 2014
Whereas other brands purchase their barrels from big producers more or less off the rack, The Macallan starts in the forest.
How Much Do Whisky Casks Really Affect Taste?
December 10, 2014
He put them in glamorous gowns, yes, but also encouraged them to buy trendier ready-to-wear labels off the rack.
How Oscar de la Renta Created First Lady Fashion
Raquel Laneri
October 21, 2014
Jenny and Ichabod rack their brains before eventually deciding to hunt for the missing Franklin documents at the archives.
Naked Ben Franklin Christens the Campy Return of ‘Sleepy Hollow’
Amy Zimmerman
September 23, 2014
Looking for a place to get a salad, we pass a gift shop with a rack of dresses near the doorway.
The Stacks: The Inimitable Albert Brooks Caught at the Dawn of His Movie Career
Paul Slansky
April 13, 2014
Historical Examples of rack
He went across to the hotel, tied the gelding at the rack, and sat down on the veranda.
Max Brand
In the bottom of the pan is a rack upon which the meat may rest.
Woman’s Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3
Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
They fought for bread, as horses when there is no hay in the rack.
Eugenie Foa
Were it not better that they should die on the field than by the rack?
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
He went into Mr. Galloway’s room, and brought forth the three letters from the rack.
Mrs. Henry Wood
British Dictionary definitions for rack rack 1 noun
- a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or objecta plate rack; a hat rack; a hay rack; a luggage rack
- a toothed bar designed to engage a pinion to form a mechanism that will interconvert rotary and rectilinear motions
- a framework fixed to an aircraft for carrying bombs, rockets, etc
- the rack an instrument of torture that stretched the body of the victim
- a cause or state of mental or bodily stress, suffering, etc; anguish; torment (esp in the phrase on the rack)
- slang, mainly US a woman’s breasts
- US and Canadian (in pool, snooker, etc)
- the triangular frame used to arrange the balls for the opening shot
- the balls so groupedBrit equivalent: frame
verb (tr)
- to torture on the rack
- Also: wrack to cause great stress or suffering toguilt racked his conscience
- Also: wrack to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical forcethe storm racked the town
- to place or arrange in or on a rackto rack bottles of wine
- to move (parts of machinery or a mechanism) using a toothed rack
- to raise (rents) exorbitantly; rack-rent
- rack one’s brains to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
See also rack up Derived Formsracker, nounWord Origin for rack C14 rekke, probably from Middle Dutch rec framework; related to Old High German recchen to stretch, Old Norse rekja to spread outxref See wrack 1 rack 2 noun
- destruction; wreck (obsolete except in the phrase go to rack and ruin)
Word Origin for rack C16: variant of wrack 1 rack 3 noun
- another word for single-foot, a gait of the horse
Word Origin for rack C16: perhaps based on rock ² rack 4 noun
- a group of broken clouds moving in the wind
verb
- (intr) (of clouds) to be blown along by the wind
Word Origin for rack Old English wrǣc what is driven; related to Gothic wraks persecutor, Swedish vrak wreckage rack 5 verb (tr)
- to clear (wine, beer, etc) as by siphoning it off from the dregs
- to fill a container with (beer, wine, etc)
Word Origin for rack C15: from Old Provençal arraca, from raca dregs of grapes after pressing rack 6 noun
- the neck or rib section of mutton, pork, or veal
Word Origin for rack Old English hrace; related to Old High German rahho, Danish harke, Swedish harkla to clear one’s throat Word Origin and History for rack n.1
“frame with bars,” c.1300, possibly from Middle Dutch rec “framework,” literally “something stretched out, related to recken (modern rekken) “stretch out,” cognate with Old English reccan “to stretch out,” from Proto-Germanic *rak- (cf. Old Saxon rekkian, Old Frisian reza, Old Norse rekja, Old High German recchen, German recken, Gothic uf-rakjan “to stretch out”), from PIE *rog-, from root *reg- “to move in a straight line” (see regal).
Meaning “instrument of torture” first recorded early 15c., perhaps from German rackbank, originally an implement for stretching leather, etc. Mechanical meaning “toothed bar” is from 1797 (see pinion). Meaning “set of antlers” is first attested 1945, American English; hence slang sense of “a woman’s breasts” (especially if large), by 1991. Meaning “framework for displaying clothes” is from 1948; hence off the rack (1951) of clothing, as opposed to tailored.
n.2
type of gait of a horse, 1580s, from rack (v.) “move with a fast, lively gait” 1520s in this sense (implied in racking), of unknown origin; perhaps from French racquassure “racking of a horse in his pace,” itself of unknown origin. Or perhaps a variant of rock (v.1).
n.3
“clouds driven before the wind,” c.1300, also “rush of wind, collision, crash,” originally a northern word, possibly from Old English racu “cloud” (or an unrecorded Scandinavian cognate of it), reinforced by Old Norse rek “wreckage, jetsam,” or by influence of Old English wræc “something driven;” from Proto-Germanic *wrakaz, from PIE root *wreg- “to push, shove” (see wreak-). Often confused with wrack (n.), especially in phrase rack and ruin (1590s). The distinction is that rack is “driven clouds;” wrack is “seaweed cast up on shore.”
v.
“to stretch out for drying,” also “to torture on the rack,” early 15c., from rack (n.1). Of other pains from 1580s. Figurative sense of “to torment” is from c.1600. Meaning “raise above a fair level” (of rent, etc.) is from 1550s. Meaning “fit with racks” is from 1580s. Teenager slang meaning “to sleep” is from 1960s (rack (n.) was Navy slang for “bed” in 1940s). Related: Racked; racking. Rack up “register, accumulate, achieve” is first attested 1943 (in “Billboard”), probably from method of keeping score in pool halls.
n.4
“cut of animal meat and bones,” 1560s, of unknown origin; perhaps from some resemblance to rack (n.1). Cf. rack-bone “vertebrae” (1610s).
Idioms and Phrases with rack rack
In addition to the idioms beginning with rack
also see: