rack

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

SEE 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

1250–1300; Middle English rakke, rekke (noun) < Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck

SYNONYMS FOR rack

7 torture, pain, agony, tribulation, ordeal.

12 See torment.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR rack ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM rack

rack·ing·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rack

rack wrack wreak wreck racked wracked wreaked wrecked

Words nearby rack

racing flag, racing form, racing skate, racism, racist, rack, rack and pinion, rack and ruin, go to, rack car, rack locomotive, rack off

Definition for rack (2 of 6)

rack ²

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

noun

ruin or destruction; wrack.

Verb Phrases

rack up, Slang. to wreck, especially a vehicle.

Origin of rack

First recorded in 1590–1600; variant of wrack¹

Definition for rack (3 of 6)

rack ³

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

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

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of rock²

Definition for rack (4 of 6)

rack ⁴

or wrack

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

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

Definition for rack (5 of 6)

rack ⁵

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

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

Definition for rack (6 of 6)

rack ⁶

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

noun

the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.

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

Origin of rack

⁶

First recorded in 1560–70; origin uncertain

Example sentences from the Web for 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 |DAILY BEAST
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 |DAILY BEAST
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 |DAILY BEAST
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 |DAILY BEAST

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 |DAILY BEAST
He caught his breath for one bewitched moment, before he busied himself with the luggage on the rack.

Sinister Street, vol. 2 |Compton Mackenzie
Two pails of water flanked this rack, in each of which had been thrust a slotted hickory "wiper" threaded with a square of cloth.

The Adventures of Bobby Orde |Stewart Edward White
Todd, bring me one of those small bird guns—there, behind the door in the rack.

Kennedy Square |F. Hopkinson Smith
Second after Alton, answered Joe as he lifted the suitcases from the rack and handed them to Bob.

Left Half Harmon |Ralph Henry Barbour
This rack consists of a small square frame, having rows of pegs inserted along the ends and sides of it.

Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, July, 1851 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for rack (1 of 6)

rack ¹

/ (ræk) /

noun

a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or object a 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 to guilt racked his conscience

Also: wrack to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical force the storm racked the town

to place or arrange in or on a rack to 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

Derived forms of rack

racker, noun

Word Origin for rack

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

undefined rack

See wrack 1

British Dictionary definitions for rack (2 of 6)

rack ²

/ (ræk) /

noun

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

Word Origin for rack

C16: variant of wrack 1

British Dictionary definitions for rack (3 of 6)

rack ³

/ (ræk) /

noun

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

Word Origin for rack

C16: perhaps based on rock ²

British Dictionary definitions for rack (4 of 6)

rack ⁴

/ (ræk) /

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

British Dictionary definitions for rack (5 of 6)

rack ⁵

/ (ræk) /

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

British Dictionary definitions for rack (6 of 6)

rack ⁶

/ (ræk) /

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

Idioms and Phrases with rack

rack

In addition to the idioms beginning with rack

rack and ruin, go to
rack one's brain
rack out
rack up

also see:

on the rack

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

rack

noun

verb (used with object)

Verb Phrases

Origin of rack

SYNONYMS FOR rack

OTHER WORDS FROM rack

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH rack

Words nearby rack

Definition for rack (2 of 6)

noun

Verb Phrases

Origin of rack

Definition for rack (3 of 6)

noun

verb (used without object)

Origin of rack

Definition for rack (4 of 6)

or wrack

noun

verb (used without object)

Origin of rack

Definition for rack (5 of 6)

verb (used with object)

Origin of rack

Definition for rack (6 of 6)

noun

Origin of rack

Words related to rack

Example sentences from the Web for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (1 of 6)

noun

verb (tr)

Derived forms of rack

Word Origin for rack

undefined rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (2 of 6)

noun

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (3 of 6)

noun

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (4 of 6)

noun

verb

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (5 of 6)

verb (tr)

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack (6 of 6)

noun

Word Origin for rack

Idioms and Phrases with rack