rack-rent

[ rak-rent ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Also rack rent. rent equal to or nearly equal to the full annual value of a property.

rack-rent

a high rent that annually equals or nearly equals the value of the property upon which it is charged
any extortionate rent

First recorded in 1600–10

C17: from rack ¹(sense 12) + rent ¹

Another common term is found in the word Head-rent, of which Gladstonians know no more than of Rack-rent.

I won't ask a rack rent, I promise you, and I suppose I could distrain on these tea things and the kettle if it were not paid up.

Will they rack-rent their tenants in such a manner as to deprive them of the means of improving the estate?

There is the same system of rack-rent in the one as in the other, and the same uncertainty in the rate of the Government demand.

He and his successors contracted to pay a full or rack-rent of xijd.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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