rack

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 vertical framework set on the sides of a wagon and able to be extended upward for carrying hay, straw, or the like in large loads:

   It's an old wagon, but the bale rack is new.

4. Pool.
   1. a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play:

      When not in use, please return the rack to its peg on the wall.

   2. the balls so arranged:

      He took aim at the rack.

5. Machinery.
   1. 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:

      When the pinion mounted to the locomotive engages with the rack between the rails, the train can ascend a steep slope.

   2. a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like:

      Instead of a round gear, this ratchet has a linear rack with which the pawl makes contact.

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:

   The racks were unspeakably horrid devices used for centuries throughout Europe.

7. a cause or state of intense mental or physical suffering, torment, or strain:

   Too many workers have suffered on the rack of annual, painful increases in their health insurance premiums.

   Synonyms: ordeal, tribulation, agony, pain, torture

8. a pair of antlers:

   What hunting lodge would be complete without an eight-point rack mounted above the fireplace?

9. Slang: Vulgar. a woman's breasts.
10. Slang. a large quantity of money, especially one thousand dollars:

    I spent a whole rack on this fancy dinner and it wasn't worth it.

    The engagement ring he bought her cost a couple of racks.

11. Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk, especially in an institutional context such as the military or a prison:

    I spent all afternoon in my rack.

1. to torture; distress acutely; torment:

   His body was racked with pain.

2. to strain in mental effort:

   She racked her brains to come up with an excuse not to go to the party.

3. to strain by physical force or violence:

   Was this suspect racked into a confession?

4. to strain beyond what is normal or usual:

   This extreme exercise is racking your muscles.

5. formerly, to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack:

   The prisoner will be taken to the dungeon to be racked.

6. Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side:

   Rack those lines, mate!

verb phrase

1. 1. Informal. to tally, accumulate, or amass, as an achievement or score:

      The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.

   2. Pool. to put (the balls) in a rack:

      You rack 'em up, and I'll break.

2. Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep:

   I racked out all afternoon.

1. ruin or destruction; wrack:

   We found our boat in a complete state of rack.

verb phrase

1. Slang. to wreck, especially a vehicle:

   People don't realize how easy it is to rack up a car in this fog.

1. the fast pace of a horse in which the legs move in lateral pairs but not simultaneously:

   Playing the video in slow motion catches each footfall in the horse's rack.

1. (of horses) to move in a rack:

   a group of mustangs racking at top speed.

1. Also called cloud rack. a group of drifting clouds:

   The first rays of dawn struggle to pierce the dreary rack of storm clouds.

1. be driven or moved, as a cloud, before the wind:

   a wispy train of clouds racking to our west.

1. to draw off (wine, cider, etc.) from the lees:

   How recently was this wine racked into a clean barrel?

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

   a roasted rack of lamb with potatoes and asparagus.

2. (formerly) the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.