rack

¹

[ rak ]

noun

1. a framework of bars, wires, or pegs on which articles are arranged or deposited:

   a clothes rack;

   a luggage rack.

2. a fixture containing several tiered shelves, often affixed to a wall:

   a book rack;

   a spice rack.

3. a vertical framework set on the sides of a wagon and able to be extended upward for carrying hay, straw, or the like in large loads:

   It's an old wagon, but the bale rack is new.

4. Pool.
   1. a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play:

      When not in use, please return the rack to its peg on the wall.

   2. the balls so arranged:

      He took aim at the rack.

5. Machinery.
   1. 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:

      When the pinion mounted to the locomotive engages with the rack between the rails, the train can ascend a steep slope.

   2. a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like:

      Instead of a round gear, this ratchet has a linear rack with which the pawl makes contact.

6. 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:

   The racks were unspeakably horrid devices used for centuries throughout Europe.

7. a cause or state of intense mental or physical suffering, torment, or strain:

   Too many workers have suffered on the rack of annual, painful increases in their health insurance premiums.

   Synonyms: ordeal, tribulation, agony, pain, torture

8. a pair of antlers:

   What hunting lodge would be complete without an eight-point rack mounted above the fireplace?

9. Slang: Vulgar. a woman's breasts.
10. Slang. a large quantity of money, especially one thousand dollars:

    I spent a whole rack on this fancy dinner and it wasn't worth it.

    The engagement ring he bought her cost a couple of racks.

11. Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk, especially in an institutional context such as the military or a prison:

    I spent all afternoon in my rack.

verb (used with object)

1. to torture; distress acutely; torment:

   His body was racked with pain.

2. to strain in mental effort:

   She racked her brains to come up with an excuse not to go to the party.

3. to strain by physical force or violence:

   Was this suspect racked into a confession?

4. to strain beyond what is normal or usual:

   This extreme exercise is racking your muscles.

5. formerly, to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack:

   The prisoner will be taken to the dungeon to be racked.

6. Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side:

   Rack those lines, mate!

verb phrase

1. Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep:

   I racked out all afternoon.

2. 1. Informal. to tally, accumulate, or amass, as an achievement or score:

      The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.

   2. Pool. to put (the balls) in a rack:

      You rack 'em up, and I'll break.

rack

²

[ rak ]

noun

1. ruin or destruction; wrack:

   We found our boat in a complete state of rack.

verb phrase

1. Slang. to wreck, especially a vehicle:

   People don't realize how easy it is to rack up a car in this fog.

rack

³

[ rak ]

noun

1. the fast pace of a horse in which the legs move in lateral pairs but not simultaneously:

   Playing the video in slow motion catches each footfall in the horse's rack.

verb (used without object)

1. (of horses) to move in a rack:

   a group of mustangs racking at top speed.

rack

⁴

[ rak ]

noun

1. Also called cloud rack. a group of drifting clouds:

   The first rays of dawn struggle to pierce the dreary rack of storm clouds.

verb (used without object)

1. be driven or moved, as a cloud, before the wind:

   a wispy train of clouds racking to our west.

rack

⁵

[ rak ]

verb (used with object)

1. to draw off (wine, cider, etc.) from the lees:

   How recently was this wine racked into a clean barrel?

rack

⁶

[ rak ]

noun

1. the rib section of a foresaddle of lamb, mutton, pork, or sometimes veal:

   a roasted rack of lamb with potatoes and asparagus.

2. (formerly) the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.

rack

¹

/ ræk /

verb

1. to clear (wine, beer, etc) as by siphoning it off from the dregs
2. to fill a container with (beer, wine, etc)

rack

²

/ ræk /

noun

1. destruction; wreck (obsolete except in the phrase go to rack and ruin )

rack

³

/ ræk /

noun

1. a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or object

   a hay rack

   a luggage rack

   a hat rack

   a plate rack

2. a toothed bar designed to engage a pinion to form a mechanism that will interconvert rotary and rectilinear motions
3. a framework fixed to an aircraft for carrying bombs, rockets, etc
4. the rack
   an instrument of torture that stretched the body of the victim
5. a cause or state of mental or bodily stress, suffering, etc; anguish; torment (esp in the phrase on the rack )
6. slang.
   a woman's breasts
7. in pool, snooker, etc
   1. the triangular frame used to arrange the balls for the opening shot
   2. the balls so grouped Brit equivalentframe

verb

1. to torture on the rack
2. Alsowrack to cause great stress or suffering to

   guilt racked his conscience

3. Alsowrack to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical force

   the storm racked the town

4. to place or arrange in or on a rack

   to rack bottles of wine

5. to move (parts of machinery or a mechanism) using a toothed rack
6. to raise (rents) exorbitantly; rack-rent
7. rack one's brains
   to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem

rack

⁴

/ ræk /

noun

1. the neck or rib section of mutton, pork, or veal

rack

⁵

/ ræk /

noun

1. a group of broken clouds moving in the wind

verb

1. intr (of clouds) to be blown along by the wind

rack

⁶

/ ræk /

noun

1. another word for single-foot, a gait of the horse

Usage

See wrack 1

Derived Forms

• ˈracker, noun

Other Words From

• rack·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of rack¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck

Origin of rack²

First recorded in 1590–1600; variant of wrack

Origin of rack³

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of rock ²

Origin of rack⁴

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rak, reck(e); further origin uncertain

Origin of rack⁵

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Old French; compare obsolete French raqué “(of wine) pressed from the dregs of grapes”

Origin of rack⁶

First recorded in 1560–70; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of rack¹

C15: from Old Provençal arraca , from raca dregs of grapes after pressing

Origin of rack²

C16: variant of wrack ¹

Origin of rack³

C14 rekke , probably from Middle Dutch rec framework; related to Old High German recchen to stretch, Old Norse rekja to spread out

Origin of rack⁴

Old English hrace ; related to Old High German rahho , Danish harke , Swedish harkla to clear one's throat

Origin of rack⁵

Old English wrǣc what is driven; related to Gothic wraks persecutor, Swedish vrak wreckage

Origin of rack⁶

C16: perhaps based on rock ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go to rack and ruin, to decay, decline, or become destroyed:

   His property went to rack and ruin in his absence.

More idioms and phrases containing rack

• on the rack

Synonym Study

See torment.

Example Sentences

Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until set.

From The Daily Beast

The clever crooks managed to rack up $2 million in profits over a year, Ares said.

From The Daily Beast

Whereas other brands purchase their barrels from big producers more or less off the rack, The Macallan starts in the forest.

From The Daily Beast

He put them in glamorous gowns, yes, but also encouraged them to buy trendier ready-to-wear labels off the rack.

From The Daily Beast

Jenny and Ichabod rack their brains before eventually deciding to hunt for the missing Franklin documents at the archives.

From The Daily Beast

The whole thing begins to have a jigsaw look, like a child's toy rack with wooden soldiers on it, expanding and contracting.

From Project Gutenberg

They were condemned on confessions of Islamism and paganism, extorted by the rack, and afterwards retracted.

From Project Gutenberg

The equilibrium valve is unchanged, except that the rack is taken out and a link put in.

From Project Gutenberg

The exhaust-valve is exactly as when it was put in, worked by a rack-and-tooth segment.

From Project Gutenberg

Best of all, there hung upon the wall of this chamber a little book-rack filled with well-selected literature.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• afflict
• shake
• torment
• wrench