on the rack

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

When more people shopped in physical stores, processing a return was often a matter putting an item back on the rack.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 17, 2025

But that its structure is essentially episodic keeps “Nautilus” colorful and more interesting than if it were simply stretched on the rack of a long arc across its 10 episodes.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2025

Rave to the car that flashed its lights and rave to the very kind and helpful person who stopped to help me retrieve my bike and put it back on the rack.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2024

By the time Mainoo had put away the most glorious finish United were 2-1 up and Liverpool were the ones on the rack and Klopp looked like he was ready to explode on the touchline.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2024

I—the easily rechristened Cal Stephanides, teen runaway—set my suitcase down and hung my jacket on the rack.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides