n. Destruction or ruin. Used chiefly in the phrase wrack and ruin. [Middle English, from Old English wræc, punishment (influenced by Middle Dutch wrak, shipwreck).] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. 1. a. 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. b. Games A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game. c. A receptacle for livestock feed. d. A frame for holding bombs in an aircraft. 2. Slang a. A bunk or bed. b. Sleep: tried to get some rack. 3. A toothed bar that meshes with a gearwheel, pinion, or other toothed machine part. 4. a. A state of intense anguish. b. A cause of intense anguish. 5. An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched. 6. A pair of antlers. 7. Vulgar Slang A woman's breasts. tr.v. racked, rack·ing, racks Phrasal Verbs: 1. To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack. 2. also wrack 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. rack out Slang To go to sleep or get some sleep. rack up Informal Idioms: To accumulate or score: rack up points. off the rack Ready-made. Used of clothing. on the rack Under great stress. rack (one's) brains/brain To try hard to remember or think of something. [Middle English rakke, probably from Middle Dutch rec, framework; see reg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] racker n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Idiom: wrack (one's) brains/brain To try hard to remember or think of something. [Influenced by WRACK2.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. A thin mass of wind-driven clouds. [Middle English rak, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish rak, wreckage.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.