rack

¹ American  

[rak] / ræk /

noun

1. a framework of bars, wires, or pegs on which articles are arranged or deposited.

   a clothes rack;

   a luggage rack.

2. a fixture containing several tiered shelves, often affixed to a wall.

   a book rack;

   a spice rack.

3. a vertical framework set on the sides of a wagon and able to be extended upward for carrying hay, straw, or the like in large loads.

   It's an old wagon, but the bale rack is new.

4. Pool.

   1. a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play.

      When not in use, please return the rack to its peg on the wall.

   2. the balls so arranged.

      He took aim at the rack.

5. Machinery.

   1. 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.

      When the pinion mounted to the locomotive engages with the rack between the rails, the train can ascend a steep slope.

   2. a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like.

      Instead of a round gear, this ratchet has a linear rack with which the pawl makes contact.

6. 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.

   The racks were unspeakably horrid devices used for centuries throughout Europe.

7. a cause or state of intense mental or physical suffering, torment, or strain.

   Too many workers have suffered on the rack of annual, painful increases in their health insurance premiums.

   Synonyms:

   ordeal, tribulation, agony, pain, torture

8. a pair of antlers.

   What hunting lodge would be complete without an eight-point rack mounted above the fireplace?

9. Slang: Vulgar. a woman's breasts.

10. Slang. a large quantity of money, especially one thousand dollars.

    I spent a whole rack on this fancy dinner and it wasn't worth it.

    The engagement ring he bought her cost a couple of racks.

11. Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk, especially in an institutional context such as the military or a prison.

    I spent all afternoon in my rack.

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verb (used with object)

1. to torture; distress acutely; torment.

   His body was racked with pain.

2. to strain in mental effort.

   She racked her brains to come up with an excuse not to go to the party.

3. to strain by physical force or violence.

   Was this suspect racked into a confession?

4. to strain beyond what is normal or usual.

   This extreme exercise is racking your muscles.

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

   The prisoner will be taken to the dungeon to be racked.

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

   Rack those lines, mate!

verb phrase

1. rack out to go to bed; go to sleep.

   I racked out all afternoon.

2. rack up

   1. Informal. to tally, accumulate, or amass, as an achievement or score.

      The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.

   2. Pool. to put (the balls) in a rack.

      You rack 'em up, and I'll break.

rack ² American  

[rak] / ræk /

noun

1. ruin or destruction; wrack.

   We found our boat in a complete state of rack.

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verb phrase

1. rack up to wreck, especially a vehicle.

   People don't realize how easy it is to rack up a car in this fog.

idioms

1. go to rack and ruin, to decay, decline, or become destroyed.

   His property went to rack and ruin in his absence.

rack ³ American  

[rak] / ræk /

noun

1. the fast pace of a horse in which the legs move in lateral pairs but not simultaneously.

   Playing the video in slow motion catches each footfall in the horse's rack.

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verb (used without object)

1. (of horses) to move in a rack.

   a group of mustangs racking at top speed.

rack ⁴ American  

[rak] / ræk /

Also wrack

noun

1. Also called cloud rack.  a group of drifting clouds.

   The first rays of dawn struggle to pierce the dreary rack of storm clouds.

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verb (used without object)

1. be driven or moved, as a cloud, before the wind.

   a wispy train of clouds racking to our west.

rack ⁵ American  

[rak] / ræk /

verb (used with object)

1. to draw off (wine, cider, etc.) from the lees.

   How recently was this wine racked into a clean barrel?

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rack ⁶ American  

[rak] / ræk /

noun

1. the rib section of a foresaddle of lamb, mutton, pork, or sometimes veal.

   a roasted rack of lamb with potatoes and asparagus.

2. (formerly) the neck portion of mutton, pork, or veal.

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rack ¹ British  

/ ræk /

noun

1. a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or object

   a plate rack

   a hat rack

   a hay rack

   a luggage rack

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

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

4. an instrument of torture that stretched the body of the victim

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

6. slang a woman's breasts

7. 1. the triangular frame used to arrange the balls for the opening shot

   2. Brit equivalent: frame.  the balls so grouped

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verb

1. to torture on the rack

2. Also: wrack.  to cause great stress or suffering to

   guilt racked his conscience

3. Also: wrack.  to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical force

   the storm racked the town

4. to place or arrange in or on a rack

   to rack bottles of wine

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

6. to raise (rents) exorbitantly; rack-rent

7. to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem

rack ² British  

/ ræk /

noun

1. a group of broken clouds moving in the wind

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verb

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

rack ³ British  

/ ræk /

verb

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

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

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rack ⁴ British  

/ ræk /

noun

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

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rack ⁵ British  

/ ræk /

noun

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

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rack ⁶ British  

/ ræk /

noun

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

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rack More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing rack

• on the rack

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Usage

What is a basic definition of rack? A rack is a fixture or structure on which things are hung or stored. To rack is to torture or to strain. The word rack has several other senses as a noun and a verb.Racks look different depending on what they are designed to hold, but they all serve generally the same function—storage. Racks come in two main styles. It can be a structure made of hooks, pegs, or bars that stick out so things can be hung from them, or it can be a shelf you put things on.

• Real-life examples: Coat racks, hat racks, and guitar racks are used to store the things they are named after and may be mounted on walls. Spice racks, magazine racks, and book racks resemble shelves and are often made of plastic or metal. An oven rack is designed to place a baking pan or other ovenware on so that the oven’s heat moves all around the container.
• Used in a sentence: I left my jacket on the coat rack by the door. 

As a verb, rack means to torture. In a similar sense, rack is used figuratively to mean to cause mental stress or strain.

• Used in a sentence: After the car accident, I spent weeks in the hospital and my body was racked with pain.

In this sense, the word rack was used as the name of a medieval torture device. A person placed on the rack would be painfully stretched until their joints were dislocated.

Related Words

See torment.

Other Word Forms

• racker noun
• rackingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of rack¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck

Origin of rack²

First recorded in 1590–1600; variant of wrack

Origin of rack³

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of rock ²

Origin of rack⁴

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English rak, reck(e); further origin uncertain

Origin of rack⁵

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Old French; compare obsolete French raqué “(of wine) pressed from the dregs of grapes”

Origin of rack⁶

First recorded in 1560–70; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

It was a challenging day for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which racked up their largest losses of 2026.

From Barron's

It was a challenging day for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which racked up their largest losses of 2026.

From Barron's

The Hurricanes have racked up a staggering 46 sacks this year—the most in the country—and in their quarterfinal upset over Ohio State, they took down Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin five separate times.

From The Wall Street Journal

But after Chambliss carried the Bulldogs to the Division II national title last season—racking up 26 touchdowns with his arm and 25 with his legs—college football’s most valuable secret was out.

From The Wall Street Journal

It said shipments of its AI racks—meaning multiple linked servers—continue to ramp up.

From Barron's

Related Words

• bed
• box
• counter
• furniture
• shelf