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rack - 29 dictionary results
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rack

1  [rak]
Use rack in a Sentence
–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 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

Related forms:
rack⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
7. torture, pain, agony, tribulation, ordeal. 12. See torment.
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rack

2  [rak]
–noun
1. ruin or destruction; wrack.
—Verb phrase
2. rack up, Slang. to wreck, esp. a vehicle.
—Idiom
3. go to rack and ruin, to decay, decline, or become destroyed: His property went to rack and ruin in his absence.
Origin:
1590–1600; var. of wrack 1

rack

3  [rak]
–noun
1. the fast pace of a horse in which the legs move in lateral pairs but not simultaneously.
–verb (used without object)
2. (of horses) to move in a rack.
Origin:
1570–80; perh. var. of rock 2

rack

4  [rak]
–noun
1. Also called cloud rack. a group of drifting clouds.
–verb (used without object)
2. to drive or move, esp. before the wind.
Also, wrack.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME rak, reck(e); orig. uncert.

rack

5  [rak]
–verb (used with object)
to draw off (wine, cider, etc.) from the lees.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME < OF; cf. obs. F raqué (of wine) pressed from the dregs of grapes

rack

6  [rak]
–noun
1. the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.
2. the rib section of a foresaddle of lamb, mutton, or sometimes veal.
Origin:
1560–70; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To rack
rack 1   (rāk)   
n.  
    1. 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.
    2. Games A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game.
    3. A receptacle for livestock feed.
    4. A frame for holding bombs in an aircraft.
    5. A state of intense anguish.
    6. A cause of intense anguish.
  2. Slang A bunk; a bed.
  3. A toothed bar that meshes with a gearwheel, pinion, or other toothed machine part.
    1. A state of intense anguish.
    2. A cause of intense anguish.
  5. An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched.
  6. A pair of antlers.
tr.v.   racked, rack·ing, racks
  1. To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack.
  2. To cause great physical or mental suffering to: Pain racked his entire body. See Synonyms at afflict.
  3. 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 rackUnder great stress.

[Middle English rakke, probably from Middle Dutch rec, framework; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
rack'er n.
rack 2   (rāk)   
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.

[Origin unknown.]
rack 3   (rāk)   
n.  A thin mass of wind-driven clouds.
intr.v.   racked, rack·ing, racks
To be driven by the wind; scud: low clouds racking by.

[Middle English rak, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish rak, wreckage.]
rack 4   (rāk)   
n.  Variant of wrack1.
rack 5   (rāk)   
n.   & v.
Variant of wrack2.
rack 6   (rāk)   
tr.v.   racked, rack·ing, racks
To drain (wine or cider) from the dregs.

[Middle English rakken, from Old Provençal arracar, from raca, stems and husks of grapes.]
rack 7   (rāk)   
n.  
    1. A wholesale rib cut of lamb or veal between the shoulder and the loin.
    2. A retail rib cut of lamb or veal, prepared for roasting or for rib chops.
  2. The neck and upper spine of mutton, pork, or veal.

[Probably from rack1.]
wrack 1 also rack   (rāk)   
n.  
  1. Destruction or ruin.
  2. A remnant or vestige of something destroyed.

[Middle English, from Old English wræc, punishment (influenced by Middle Dutch wrak, shipwreck).]
wrack 2 also rack   (rāk)   
n.  
    1. Wreckage, especially of a ship cast ashore.
    2. Chiefly British Violent destruction of a building or vehicle.
    3. Dried seaweed.
    4. Marine vegetation, especially kelp.
    1. Dried seaweed.
    2. Marine vegetation, especially kelp.
v.   wracked also racked, wrack·ing also rack·ing, wracks also racks

v.   tr.
To cause the ruin of; wreck.
v.   intr.
To be wrecked.

[Middle English wrak, from Middle Dutch.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rack

Rack\, n. Same as Arrack.

Rack

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

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

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

Rack\, v. i. To fly, as vapor or broken clouds.

Rack

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

Rack\, n. A fast amble.

Rack

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

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

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rack
Spanish: estante,
German: das Gestell,
Japanese: 棚
More Translations »

rack  (1)
"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.

rack  (2)
"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).

rack  (3)
"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."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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rack

In addition to the idioms beginning with rack, also see on the rack.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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