racket

[rak-it]

noun

a loud noise or clamor, especially of a disturbing or confusing kind; din; uproar: The traffic made a terrible racket in the street below.
social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation.
an organized illegal activity, such as bootlegging or the extortion of money from legitimate business people by threat or violence.

a dishonest scheme, trick, business, activity, etc.: the latest weight-reducing racket.
Usually the rackets. organized illegal activities: Some say that the revenue from legalized gambling supports the rackets.
Slang.
1. an occupation, livelihood, or business.
2. an easy or profitable source of livelihood.

verb (used without object)

to make a racket or noise.
to take part in social gaiety or dissipation.

Origin of racket

1555–65; 1890–95 for def 6; metathetic variant of dial. rattick; see rattle¹

Can be confusedracket racquet

Synonyms for racket

1. tumult, disturbance, outcry. See noise.

Antonyms for racket

1, 2. tranquillity.

racket

[rak-it]

noun

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.
the short-handled paddle used to strike the ball in table tennis.
rackets, (used with a singular verb) racquet(def 1).
a snowshoe made in the form of a tennis racket.

Also rac·quet (for defs 1, 2, 4).

Origin of racket

1490–1500; < Middle French raquette, rachette, perhaps < Arabic rāḥet, variant of rāḥah palm of the hand

Related formsrack·et·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for rackets

fraud, graft, conspiracy, theft, scheme, extortion, swindle, shuffle, agitation, blare, wrangle, squabble, battle, free-for-all, row, disturbance, riot, babel, hubbub, clamor

Examples from the Web for rackets

Contemporary Examples of rackets

As of 2005, Safin estimated he had broken more than 300 rackets in emotional outbursts.
Top Eleven Tennis Tantrums
The Daily Beast Video
August 31, 2010
In the 1940s, the Jewish rackets were waning in influence as the Italian Mafia expanded.
The Real Inglorious Bastards
Eric Dezenhall
July 19, 2011

Historical Examples of rackets

As long as I ignore their rackets they accept me in their midst, talk freely with me around.
This One Problem
M. C. Pease
Towards the end of the game Cresswell and Cartwright walked up with their rackets.
Follow My leader
Talbot Baines Reed
The wings are of a purple-brown, as is the tail; but the rackets are black, shot with green.
The Western World
W.H.G. Kingston
We had to take our rackets off, for it was so rocky and uneven that we could not use them.
Ben Comee
M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
I lit a pipe and waited for Henry to finish his game of rackets.
Happy Days
Alan Alexander Milne

British Dictionary definitions for rackets

rackets

noun

(functioning as singular)
1. a game similar to squash played in a large four-walled court by two or four players using rackets and a small hard ball
2. (as modifier)a rackets court; a rackets championship

racket

noun

a noisy disturbance or loud commotion; clamour; din
gay or excited revelry, dissipation, etc
an illegal enterprise carried on for profit, such as extortion, fraud, prostitution, drug peddling, etc
slang a business or occupationwhat's your racket?
music
1. a medieval woodwind instrument of deep bass pitch
2. a reed stop on an organ of deep bass pitch

verb

(intr often foll by about) rare to go about gaily or noisily, in search of pleasure, excitement, etc

Word Origin for racket

C16: probably of imitative origin; compare rattle 1

racket

racquet

noun

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
a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket

verb

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

Word Origin for racket

C16: from French raquette, from Arabic rāhat palm of the hand

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

Word Origin and History for rackets

racket

n.1

"loud noise," 1560s, perhaps imitative. Klein compares Gaelic racaid "noise." Meaning "dishonest activity" (1785) is perhaps from racquet, via notion of "game," reinforced by rack-rent "extortionate rent" (1590s), from rack (n.1).

racket

n.2

"handled paddle or netted bat used in tennis, etc.;" see racquet.