racket

¹ American  

[rak-it] / ˈræk ɪt /

noun

1. a loud noise or clamor, especially of a disturbing or confusing kind; din; uproar.

   The traffic made a terrible racket in the street below.

   Synonyms:

   outcry, tumult, disturbance, cacophony

   Antonyms:

   tranquility, stillness, calm, quiet

2. social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation.

   Antonyms:

   tranquility, stillness, calm, quiet

3. an organized illegal activity, such as bootlegging or the extortion of money from legitimate business people by threat or violence.

4. a dishonest scheme, trick, business, activity, etc..

   the latest weight-reducing racket.

5. Usually the rackets organized illegal activities.

   Some say that the revenue from legalized gambling supports the rackets.

6. Slang.

   1. an occupation, livelihood, or business.

   2. an easy or profitable source of livelihood.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a racket or noise.

2. to take part in social gaiety or dissipation.

racket ² American  

[rak-it] / ˈræk ɪt /

Also racquet

noun

1. a light bat having a netting of catgut or nylon stretched in a more or less oval frame and used for striking the ball in tennis, the shuttlecock in badminton, etc.

2. the short-handled paddle used to strike the ball in table tennis.

3. (used with a singular verb) rackets, racquet.

4. a snowshoe made in the form of a tennis racket.

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racket ¹ British  

/ ˈrækɪt /

noun

1. a noisy disturbance or loud commotion; clamour; din

2. gay or excited revelry, dissipation, etc

3. an illegal enterprise carried on for profit, such as extortion, fraud, prostitution, drug peddling, etc

4. slang a business or occupation

   what's your racket?

5. music

   1. a medieval woodwind instrument of deep bass pitch

   2. a reed stop on an organ of deep bass pitch

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verb

1. rare to go about gaily or noisily, in search of pleasure, excitement, etc

racket ² British  

/ ˈrækɪt /

noun

1. a bat consisting of an open network of nylon or other strings stretched in an oval frame with a handle, used to strike the ball in tennis, badminton, etc

2. a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket

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verb

1. (tr) to strike (a ball, shuttlecock, etc) with a racket

Related Words

See noise.

Other Word Forms

• racketlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of racket¹

First recorded in 1555–65; 1890–95 racket ¹ for def. 6; by transposition of dialectal rattick; rattle ¹

Origin of racket²

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English raket, a term for a kind of handball, from Middle French raquette, rachette “palm (of the hand)”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Arabic rāḥet, variant of rāḥat (al-yad) “palm (of the hand)”

Example Sentences

The vessels were intercepted on Feb. 6 about 100 nautical miles northwest of Mumbai and were part of an “international oil-smuggling racket,” the Coast Guard said in an Instagram post.

From The Wall Street Journal

She just grunted her assent and said not to make a racket when he came home.

From Literature

But before I can hear more about the contest, the racket starts up again.

From Literature

Djokovic might be the greatest defender ever to pick up a tennis racket, but losing even half a step made all the difference against a human flywheel like Alcaraz.

From The Wall Street Journal

A 2018 government probe identified 15 companies -- including helicopter firms, trekking agencies and hospitals -- linked to the lucrative racket.

From Barron's

Related Words

• conspiracy
• extortion
• fraud
• graft
• scheme
• swindle
• theft