on the rack

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.”

Example Sentences

"Imagine any man carrying the responsibilities Churchill did, with humanity on the rack in Europe and Asia, finding time to even think about, let alone want, half-a-dozen duckbilled platypuses," he wrote in his 1980 book Paradoxical Platypus.

From BBC

Are you one of these guys who wants the towels to hang on the rack just so?

From Los Angeles Times

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

Once, Dalia was pleased to find Fazla spending several hours writing English words in a notebook, only to later learn that Fazla had been copying the names of the cigarette brands displayed on the rack behind her: Parliament, Kool, Newport, Camel.

From Slate

Preston likens the strapless dress to a wedding cake, which she initially thought might be too much when it was on the rack.

From Los Angeles Times