wrack

[ rak ]

noun

1. wreck or wreckage.
2. damage or destruction:

   wrack and ruin.

3. a trace of something destroyed:

   leaving not a wrack behind.

4. seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.

verb (used with object)

1. to wreck:

   He wracked his car up on the river road.

wrack

¹

/ ræk /

noun

1. collapse or destruction (esp in the phrase wrack and ruin )
2. something destroyed or a remnant of such

verb

1. a variant spelling of rack 1

wrack

²

/ ræk /

noun

1. seaweed or other marine vegetation that is floating in the sea or has been cast ashore
2. any of various seaweeds of the genus Fucus, such as F. serratus ( serrated wrack )
3. literary.
   1. a wreck or piece of wreckage
   2. a remnant or fragment of something destroyed

Usage

The use of the spelling wrack rather than rack in sentences such as she was wracked by grief or the country was wracked by civil war is very common but is thought by many people to be incorrect

Word History and Origins

Origin of wrack¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English wrak (noun), Old English wræc “vengeance, misery,” akin to wracu “vengeance, misery,” wrecan “to drive out, punish”; wreak

Word History and Origins

Origin of wrack¹

Old English wræc persecution, misery; related to Gothic wraka, Old Norse rāk. Compare wreck , wretch

Origin of wrack²

C14 (in the sense: a wrecked ship, wreckage, hence later applied to marine vegetation washed ashore): perhaps from Middle Dutch wrak wreckage; the term corresponds to Old English wræc wrack ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see under rack .

Example Sentences

But people can also try to convince a court a ban would result in exceptional hardship, which could lead to being allowed to drive despite having wracked up 12 points or more.

From BBC

“Here I was, wracked with fear and tension,” says Curtis, “and there I was being lifted by the sound of instruments and voices coming together harmonically, spiritually, emotionally. I left better.”

From Los Angeles Times

The election had been seen as a turning-point for the resource-rich country which is wracked by economic problems, corruption and poverty.

From BBC

Lebanon wracked by fresh wave of explosions of booby-trapped communication devices believed to be part of an electronic sabotage campaign against Hezbollah.

From Los Angeles Times

A fresh wave of explosions caused by booby-trapped communication devices wracked Lebanon on Wednesday, the second such attack in as many days in what was believed to be an electronic sabotage campaign targeting Hezbollah.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• decimate
• torment
• wreck