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

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

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)

What moral conviction is expressed in the condemnation of usurious interest and of rack-rent?

From The Social Principles of Jesus by Rauschenbusch, Walter

The poorer sort, for want of work; the farmers whose beneficial bargains, are now become a rack-rent, too hard to be borne.

From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 09 Contributions to The Tatler, The Examiner, The Spectator, and The Intelligencer by Swift, Jonathan

Thus, how miserable is the condition of the peasants in Russia, of the Irish "rack-rent" tenants!

From Socialism and the Social Movement in the 19th Century by Sombart, Werner