rack1
n.
- a framework for holding or storing things.
▸a vertically barred holder for animal fodder.
- a cogged or toothed bar or rail engaging with a wheel or pinion, or using pegs to adjust the position of something.
-
(the rack)
historical an instrument of torture consisting of a frame on which the victim was tied by the wrists and ankles and stretched.
- N. Amer. informal a bed.
- a triangular frame for positioning pool balls.
▸a single game of pool.
- N. Amer. a set of deer's antlers.
- a digital effects unit for a guitar or other instrument.
v.
-
(also wrack)
cause extreme pain or distress to.
▸archaic oppress (a tenant) by exacting excessive rent.
▸historical torture on the rack.
- place in or on a rack.
-
(rack something up)
accumulate or achieve something.
Phrase
- rack
(or wrack)
one's brains
make a great mental effort.
Usage
The relationship between the forms rack and wrack is complicated. The most common noun sense of rack ‘a framework for holding and storing things’ is always spelled rack, never wrack. The verb senses that derive from the type of torture in which someone is stretched on a rack can, however, be spelled either rack or wrack: you can be racked with guilt or wracked with guilt; you rack your brains or wrack your brains. In addition, the phrase rack and ruin can also be spelled wrack and ruin.
Etymology
ME: from MDu. rec, Mid. Low Ger. rek ‘a rail or shelf’, prob. from recken ‘to stretch, reach’.
rack2
n.
a horse's gait between a trot and a canter.
v.
- (of a horse) move with such a gait.
- rack off
Austral. informal go away.
Etymology
C16: of unknown origin.
rack3
n.
a joint of meat, especially lamb, including the front ribs.
Etymology
C16: of unknown origin.
rack4
n.
(
in phr. go to rack and ruin)
gradually deteriorate due to neglect.
Etymology
OE wræc ‘vengeance, destruction’, rel. to wreak; cf. wrack4.
rack5
v.
draw off (wine, beer, etc.) from the sediment in the barrel.
Etymology
C15: from Provençal arracar, from raca ‘stems and husks of grapes, dregs’.
rack6
n.
variant spelling of
wrack3.
v.
archaic (of a cloud) be driven before the wind.
Etymology
ME (denoting a rush or collision): prob. of Scand. origin.