on the rack

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Under great stress, as in I was on the rack while I waited for the test results. This expression, alluding to a medieval instrument of torture to which the victim was fastened and stretched, has been used figuratively since the late 1500s. Shakespeare had it in The Merchant of Venice (3:2): “Let me choose, for as I am I live upon the rack.”

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Shoelaces, rainbow, toothpaste, and haircuts are all what type of noun?

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Words nearby on the rack

on the part of, on the point of, on the prowl, on the Q.T., on the qui vive, on the rack, on the rebound, on the receiving end, on-the-record, on the right foot, get off, on the right tack

Example sentences from the Web for on the rack

Just the hard-on before you shoot unarmed members of the public.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

You just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
You never know when you are going to stumble upon a jewel in the most out-of-the-way corner.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Mr. Slocum was not educated in a university, and his life has been in by-paths, and out-of-the-way places.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
The whole thing begins to have a jigsaw look, like a child's toy rack with wooden soldiers on it, expanding and contracting.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
They were condemned on confessions of Islamism and paganism, extorted by the rack, and afterwards retracted.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

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on the rack

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Example sentences from the Web for on the rack