rack-rent

American  

[rak-rent] / ˈrækˌrɛnt /

noun

1. Also rack rent rent equal to or nearly equal to the full annual value of a property.

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verb (used with object)

1. to exact the highest possible rent for.

2. to demand rack-rent from.

rack-rent British  

noun

1. a high rent that annually equals or nearly equals the value of the property upon which it is charged

2. any extortionate rent

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verb

1. to charge an extortionate rent for (property, land, etc)

Other Word Forms

• rack-renter noun

Etymology

Origin of rack-rent

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

It is otherwise with ordinary tenements, when the tenant pays a full, or what the law terms rack-rent; the landlord is then to insure, unless it is otherwise arranged by the agreement.

From The Book of Household Management by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary)

They sit upon a rack-rent, and pay 5s. or 6s. for good ploughing land, which now is clothed with excellent good corne.'

From The Land-War In Ireland (1870) A History For The Times by Godkin, James

Is it reasonable that whilst householders can obtain no rent, and have no income save the bare means of providing a scanty subsistence, they should be assessed at the rack-rent of former valuation?

From The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, Vol. II by Dundonald, Thomas Barnes Cochrane, Earl of

How is it possible to improve their condition, when every improvement only imposes an additional burden upon them in the shape of rack-rent or eviction?

From Irish Race in the Past and the Present by Thebaud, Augustus J.

Formerly all tenants had some capital, and often considerable; but absentee landlordism, rising rack-rent, and failing cotton have stripped them well-nigh of all, and probably not over half of them to-day own their mules.

From The Souls of Black Folk by Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt)