the racketses

rack·et

1 [rak-it]
noun
1.
a loud noise or clamor, especially of a disturbing or confusing kind; din; uproar: The traffic made a terrible racket in the street below.
2.
social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation.
3.
an organized illegal activity, such as bootlegging or the extortion of money from legitimate business people by threat or violence.
4.
a dishonest scheme, trick, business, activity, etc.: the latest weight-reducing racket.
5.
Usually, the rackets. organized illegal activities: Some say that the revenue from legalized gambling supports the rackets.
6.
Slang.
a.
an occupation, livelihood, or business.
b.
an easy or profitable source of livelihood.
verb (used without object)
7.
to make a racket or noise.
8.
to take part in social gaiety or dissipation.
00:10
The racketses is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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Origin:
1555–65; 1890–95 for def 6; metathetic variant of dial. rattick; see rattle1

Synonyms
1. tumult, disturbance, outcry. See noise.

Antonyms
1, 2. tranquillity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
racket1 (ˈrækɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a noisy disturbance or loud commotion; clamour; din
2.  gay or excited revelry, dissipation, etc
3.  an illegal enterprise carried on for profit, such as extortion, fraud, prostitution, drug peddling, etc
4.  slang a business or occupation: what's your racket?
5.  music
 a.  a medieval woodwind instrument of deep bass pitch
 b.  a reed stop on an organ of deep bass pitch
 
—vb (often foll by about)
6.  rare to go about gaily or noisily, in search of pleasure, excitement, etc
 
[C16: probably of imitative origin; compare rattle1]

racket or racquet2 (ˈrækɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a bat consisting of an open network of nylon or other strings stretched in an oval frame with a handle, used to strike the ball in tennis, badminton, etc
2.  a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket
 
—vb
3.  (tr) to strike (a ball, shuttlecock, etc) with a racket
 
[C16: from French raquette, from Arabic rāhat palm of the hand]
 
racquet or racquet2
 
—n
 
—vb
 
[C16: from French raquette, from Arabic rāhat palm of the hand]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

racket
"loud noise," 1565, said to be imitative. Meaning "dishonest activity" (1785) is perhaps from racquet, via notion of "game," reinforced by rack-rent "extortionate rent" (1591), from rack (1). Racketeer (v. and n.) first recorded 1928.

racket
"bat used in tennis, etc.," see racquet.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

racket definition


  1. n.
    noise. : Cut out that racket! Shut up!
  2. n.
    a deception; a scam. : This is not a service station; it's a real racket!
  3. n.
    any job. : I've been in this racket for twenty years and never made any money.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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