rack-and-pinion

[ rak-uh n-pin-yuh n ]

/ ˈræk ənˈpɪn yən /

adjective

of or relating to a mechanism in which a rack engages a pinion: rack-and-pinion steering.

Nearby words

rack out, rack rail, rack railway, rack saw, rack up, rack-and-pinion, rack-rent, rackboard, racket, racket amputation, racket press

Origin of rack-and-pinion

First recorded in 1900–05

Definition for rack-and-pinion (2 of 3)

rack and pinion

noun Machinery, Automotive.

See under rack¹(def 5a).

Definition for rack-and-pinion (3 of 3)

rack

[ rak ]

/ ræk /

noun

a framework of bars, wires, or pegs on which articles are arranged or deposited: a clothes rack; a luggage rack.

a fixture containing several tiered shelves, often affixed to a wall: a book rack; a spice rack.

a spreading framework set on a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or the like, in large loads.

Pool.

a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play.
the balls so arranged: He took aim at the rack.

Machinery.

a bar, with teeth on one of its sides, adapted to engage with the teeth of a pinion (rack and pinion) or the like, as for converting circular into rectilinear motion or vice versa.
a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like.

a former instrument of torture consisting of a framework on which a victim was tied, often spread-eagled, by the wrists and ankles, to be slowly stretched by spreading the parts of the framework.

a cause or state of intense suffering of body or mind.

torment; anguish.

violent strain.

a pair of antlers.

Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk: I spent all afternoon in the rack.

verb (used with object)

to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain.

to strain in mental effort: to rack one's brains.

to strain by physical force or violence.

to strain beyond what is normal or usual.

to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack.

Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side.

Verb Phrases

rack out, Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep: I racked out all afternoon.

rack up,

Pool. to put (the balls) in a rack.
Informal. to tally, accumulate, or amass as an achievement or score: The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.

Origin of rack

1250–1300; Middle English rakke, rekke (noun) < Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck

SYNONYMS FOR rack

7 torture, pain, agony, tribulation, ordeal.

12 See torment.

Related forms

rack·ing·ly, adverb

Can be confused

rack wrack wreak wreckracked wracked wreaked wrecked

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rack-and-pinion

A cheap instrument has an open face and plain frame, with sliding vernier instead of rack-and-pinion motion.
A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments|Henry Negretti
No odour, no teeth-disturbing grind of rack-and-pinion, no trumpeting, with that machine!
Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days|Arnold Bennett
A rack-and-pinion movement for elevating or lowering the sliding pillar would be useful.
Every Boy's Book: A Complete Encyclopdia of Sports and Amusements|Various

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (1 of 7)

rack-and-pinion

noun

a device for converting rotary into linear motion and vice versa, in which a gearwheel (the pinion) engages with a flat toothed bar (the rack)

adjective

(of a type of steering gear in motor vehicles) having a track rod with a rack along part of its length that engages with a pinion attached to the steering column

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (2 of 7)

rack

/ (ræk) /

noun

a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or objecta plate rack; a hat rack; a hay rack; a luggage rack

a toothed bar designed to engage a pinion to form a mechanism that will interconvert rotary and rectilinear motions

a framework fixed to an aircraft for carrying bombs, rockets, etc

the rack an instrument of torture that stretched the body of the victim

a cause or state of mental or bodily stress, suffering, etc; anguish; torment (esp in the phrase on the rack)

slang, mainly US a woman's breasts

US and Canadian (in pool, snooker, etc)

the triangular frame used to arrange the balls for the opening shot
the balls so groupedBrit equivalent: frame

verb (tr)

to torture on the rack

Also: wrack to cause great stress or suffering toguilt racked his conscience

Also: wrack to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical forcethe storm racked the town

to place or arrange in or on a rackto rack bottles of wine

to move (parts of machinery or a mechanism) using a toothed rack

to raise (rents) exorbitantly; rack-rent

rack one's brains to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem

Derived Forms

racker, noun

Word Origin for rack

C14 rekke, probably from Middle Dutch rec framework; related to Old High German recchen to stretch, Old Norse rekja to spread out

xref

See wrack 1

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (3 of 7)

rack

/ (ræk) /

noun

destruction; wreck (obsolete except in the phrase go to rack and ruin)

Word Origin for rack

C16: variant of wrack 1

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (4 of 7)

rack

/ (ræk) /

noun

another word for single-foot, a gait of the horse

Word Origin for rack

C16: perhaps based on rock ²

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (5 of 7)

rack

⁴

/ (ræk) /

noun

a group of broken clouds moving in the wind

verb

(intr) (of clouds) to be blown along by the wind

Word Origin for rack

Old English wrǣc what is driven; related to Gothic wraks persecutor, Swedish vrak wreckage

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (6 of 7)

rack

⁵

/ (ræk) /

verb (tr)

to clear (wine, beer, etc) as by siphoning it off from the dregs

to fill a container with (beer, wine, etc)

Word Origin for rack

C15: from Old Provençal arraca, from raca dregs of grapes after pressing

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (7 of 7)

rack

⁶

/ (ræk) /

noun

the neck or rib section of mutton, pork, or veal

Word Origin for rack

Old English hrace; related to Old High German rahho, Danish harke, Swedish harkla to clear one's throat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with rack-and-pinion

rack

In addition to the idioms beginning with rack

rack and ruin, go to
rack one's brain
rack out
rack up

also see:

on the rack

rack-and-pinion

adjective

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of rack-and-pinion

Definition for rack-and-pinion (2 of 3)

rack and pinion

noun Machinery, Automotive.

Definition for rack-and-pinion (3 of 3)

rack

noun

verb (used with object)

Verb Phrases

Origin of rack

SYNONYMS FOR rack

Related forms

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for rack-and-pinion

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (1 of 7)

rack-and-pinion

noun

adjective

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (2 of 7)

rack

noun

verb (tr)

Derived Forms

Word Origin for rack

xref

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (3 of 7)

rack

noun

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (4 of 7)

rack

noun

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (5 of 7)

rack

noun

verb

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (6 of 7)

rack

verb (tr)

Word Origin for rack

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion (7 of 7)

rack

noun

Word Origin for rack

Idioms and Phrases with rack-and-pinion

rack