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 spreading framework set on a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or the like, in large loads.
4.
Pool.
a.
a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play.
b.
the balls so arranged: He took aim at the rack.
5.
Machinery.
a.
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.
b.
a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like.
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.
7.
a cause or state of intense suffering of body or mind.
8.
torment; anguish.
9.
violent strain.
10.
a pair of antlers.
11.
Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk: I spent all afternoon in the rack.
–verb (used with object)
12.
to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain.
13.
to strain in mental effort: to rack one's brains.
14.
to strain by physical force or violence.
15.
to strain beyond what is normal or usual.
16.
to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack.
17.
Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side.
—Verb phrases
18.
rack out, Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep: I racked out all afternoon.
19.
rack up,
a.
Pool. to put (the balls) in a rack.
b.
Informal. to tally, accumulate, or amass as an achievement or score: The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME rakke, rekke (n.) < MD rac, rec, recke; cf. MLG reck, G Reck]
A framework or stand in or on which to hold, hang, or display various articles: a trophy rack; a rack for baseball bats in the dugout; a drying rack for laundry.
Games A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game.
A receptacle for livestock feed.
A frame for holding bombs in an aircraft.
A state of intense anguish.
A cause of intense anguish.
Slang A bunk; a bed.
A toothed bar that meshes with a gearwheel, pinion, or other toothed machine part.
A state of intense anguish.
A cause of intense anguish.
An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched.
A pair of antlers.
tr.v.
racked, rack·ing, racks
To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack.
To cause great physical or mental suffering to: Pain racked his entire body. See Synonyms at afflict.
To torture by means of the rack.
Phrasal Verb(s): rack out Slang
To go to sleep or get some sleep.
rack up Informal
To accumulate or score: rack up points.
Idiom(s):
on the rack
Under great stress.
[Middle English rakke, probably from Middle Dutch rec, framework; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
rack 2Audio Help (rāk) Pronunciation Key
n.
A fast, flashy, four-beat gait of a horse in which each foot touches the ground separately and at equal intervals.
intr.v.
racked, rack·ing, racks
To go or move in a rack.
"frame with bars," c.1305, possibly from M.Du. rec "framework," related to recken "stretch out," cognate with O.E. reccan "to stretch out," from P.Gmc. *rakjanan (cf. O.N. rekja, O.Fris. reza, O.H.G. recchen, Ger. recken, Goth. uf-rakjan "to stretch out"). The verb meaning "to sleep" is teen-ager slang from 1960s (rack was Navy slang for "bed" in 1940s). Meaning "instrument of torture" first recorded c.1460 (verb meaning "to torture on the rack" is from 1433), perhaps from Ger. rackbank, originally an implement for stretching leather, etc. Fig. sense of "agony" is from 1591. Mechanical meaning "toothed bar" is from 1797 (see pinion). Meaning "set of antlers" is first attested 1945, Amer.Eng.; hence slang sense of "a woman's breasts" (especially if large), c.1980s. Off the rack in ref. to clothing is from 1962. Rack up "register accumulate, achieve" is first attested 1961, probably from method of keeping score in pool halls.
"gait of a horse," 1530 (implied in racking), perhaps from Fr. racquassure "racking of a horse in his pace," of unknown origin. Or perhaps a variant of rock (v.1).
"clouds driven before the wind," c.1300, also "rush of wind, collision, crash," possibly from O.E. racu "cloud," reinforced by O.N. rek "wreckage, jetsam," or by influence of O.E. wræc "something driven." Originally a northern word, perhaps from an unrecorded Scand. cognate of O.E. racu. Often confused with wrack (q.v.), especially in phrase rack and ruin (1599). The distinction is that rack is "driven clouds;" wrack is "seaweed cast up on shore."
rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton
3.
the destruction or collapse of something; "wrack and ruin" [syn: wrack]
4.
an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims
5.
a support for displaying various articles; "the newspapers were arranged on a rack"
6.
a form of torture in which pain is inflicted by stretching the body
7.
a rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately
verb
1.
go at a rack; "the horses single-footed" [syn: single-foot]
2.
stretch to the limits; "rack one's brains"
3.
put on a rack and pinion; "rack a camera"
4.
obtain by coercion or intimidation; "They extorted money from the executive by threatening to reveal his past to the company boss"; "They squeezed money from the owner of the business by threatening him" [syn: extort]
a frame or shelf in or on which objects (eg letters, plates, luggage etc) are put until they are wanted or needed Example: Put these tools back in the rack; Put your bag in the luggage-rack.
Ar"rack\ (?; 277), n. [Ar. araq sweat, juice, spirituous liquor, fr. araqa to sweat. Cf. Rack arrack.] A name in the East Indies and the Indian islands for all ardent spirits. Arrack is often distilled from a fermented mixture of rice, molasses, and palm wine of the cocoanut tree or the date palm, etc.
Pin"ion\, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in sense 5); cf. Sp. pi[~n]on pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle, feather, wing. See Pin a peg, and cf. Pen a feather, Pennat, Pennon.]1. A feather; a quill. --Shak. 2. A wing, literal or figurative. Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. --Pope. 3. The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body. --Johnson. 4. A fetter for the arm. --Ainsworth. 5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis. Lantern pinion. See under Lantern. Pinion wire, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn through holes of the shape required for the leaves or teeth of the pinions.
Rack\, n. [AS. hracca neck, hinder part of the head; cf. AS. hraca throat, G. rachen throat, E. retch.] The neck and spine of a fore quarter of veal or mutton.
Rack\, n. [See Wreck.] A wreck; destruction. [Obs., except in a few phrases.] Rack and ruin, destruction; utter ruin. [Colloq.] To go to rack, to perish; to be destroyed. [Colloq.] "All goes to rack." --Pepys.
Rack\, n. [Prob. fr. Icel. rek drift, motion, and akin to reka to drive, and E. wrack, wreck. ?.] Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapor in the sky. --Shak. The winds in the upper region, which move the clouds above, which we call the rack, . . . pass without noise. --Bacon. And the night rack came rolling up. --C. Kingsley.
Rack\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Racked; p. pr. & vb. n. Racking.] [See Rack that which stretches, or Rock, v.] To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the body; to pace; -- said of a horse. --Fuller.
Rack\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Racked; p. pr. & vb. n. Racking.] [See Rack that which stretches, or Rock, v.] To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the body; to pace; -- said of a horse. --Fuller.
Rack\, v. t. [Cf. OF. vin raqu['e] squeezed from the dregs of the grapes.] To draw off from the lees or sediment, as wine. It is in common practice to draw wine or beer from the lees (which we call racking), whereby it will clarify much the sooner. --Bacon. Rack vintage, wine cleansed and drawn from the lees. --Cowell.
Rack\, n. [Probably fr. D. rek, rekbank, a rack, rekken to stretch; akin to G. reck, reckbank, a rack, recken to stretch, Dan. r[ae]kke, Sw. r["a]cka, Icel. rekja to spread out, Goth. refrakjan to stretch out; cf. L. porrigere, Gr. ?. ? Cf. Right, a., Ratch.]1. An instrument or frame used for stretching, extending, retaining, or displaying, something. Specifically: (a) An engine of torture, consisting of a large frame, upon which the body was gradually stretched until, sometimes, the joints were dislocated; -- formerly used judicially for extorting confessions from criminals or suspected persons. During the troubles of the fifteenth century, a rack was introduced into the Tower, and was occasionally used under the plea of political necessity. --Macaulay. (b) An instrument for bending a bow. (c) A grate on which bacon is laid. (d) A frame or device of various construction for holding, and preventing the waste of, hay, grain, etc., supplied to beasts. (e) A frame on which articles are deposited for keeping or arranged for display; as, a clothes rack; a bottle rack, etc. (f) (Naut.) A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes; -- called also rack block. Also, a frame to hold shot. (g) (Mining) A frame or table on which ores are separated or washed. (h) A frame fitted to a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or grain on the stalk, or other bulky loads. (i) A distaff. 2. (Mech.) A bar with teeth on its face, or edge, to work with those of a wheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive it or be driven by it. 3. That which is extorted; exaction. [Obs.] --Sir E. Sandys. Mangle rack. (Mach.) See under Mangle. n. Rack block. (Naut.) See def. 1 (f), above. Rack lashing, a lashing or binding where the rope is tightened, and held tight by the use of a small stick of wood twisted around. Rack rail (Railroads), a toothed rack, laid as a rail, to afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. Rack stick, the stick used in a rack lashing. To be on the rack, to suffer torture, physical or mental. To live at rack and manger, to live on the best at another's expense. [Colloq.] To put to the rack, to subject to torture; to torment. A fit of the stone puts a kingto the rack, and makes him as miserable as it does the meanest subject. --Sir W. Temple.
Rack\, v. t. 1. To extend by the application of force; to stretch or strain; specifically, to stretch on the rack or wheel; to torture by an engine which strains the limbs and pulls the joints. He was racked and miserably tormented. --Pope. 2. To torment; to torture; to affect with extreme pain or anguish. Vaunting aloud but racked with deep despair. --Milton. 3. To stretch or strain, in a figurative sense; hence, to harass, or oppress by extortion. The landlords there shamefully rack their tenants. --Spenser. They [landlords] rack a Scripture simile beyond the true intent thereof. --Fuller. Try what my credit can in Venice do; That shall be racked even to the uttermost. --Shak. 4. (Mining) To wash on a rack, as metals or ore. 5. (Naut.) To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc. To rack one's brains or wits, to exert them to the utmost for the purpose of accomplishing something. Syn: To torture; torment; rend; tear.
Ratch"et\, n. [Properly a diminutive from the same word as rack: cf. F. rochet. See 2d Ratch, Rack the instrument.]1. A pawl, click, or detent, for holding or propelling a ratchet wheel, or ratch, etc. 2. A mechanism composed of a ratchet wheel, or ratch, and pawl. See Ratchet wheel, below, and 2d Ratch. Ratchet brace (Mech.), a boring brace, having a ratchet wheel and pawl for rotating the tool by back and forth movements of the brace handle. Ratchet drill, a portable machine for working a drill by hand, consisting of a hand lever carrying at one end a drill holder which is revolved by means of a ratchet wheel and pawl, by swinging the lever back and forth. Ratchet wheel (Mach.), a circular wheel having teeth, usually angular, with which a reciprocating pawl engages to turn the wheel forward, or a stationary pawl to hold it from turning backward. Note: In the cut, the moving pawl c slides over the teeth in one direction, but in returning, draws the wheel with it, while the pawl d prevents it from turning in the contrary direction.
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Audio Help [rak] Pronunciation Key 
