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definitions

racking

[rak-ing]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR racking ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Masonry.

the stepping back of the ends of courses successively from bottom to top in an unfinished wall to facilitate resumption of work or bonding with an intersecting wall.

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RELATED WORDS

torment, wrench, afflict, shake, crucify, pull, stress, pain, distress, agonize, excruciate, oppress, try, tear, harass, persecute, force, martyr, wring, harrow

Origin of racking

First recorded in 1890–95; rack1 + -ing1

rack

1
[rak]

noun

a framework of bars, wires, or pegs on which articles are arranged or deposited: a clothes rack; a luggage rack.
a fixture containing several tiered shelves, often affixed to a wall: a book rack; a spice rack.
a spreading framework set on a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or the like, in large loads.
Pool.
  1. a wooden frame of triangular shape within which the balls are arranged before play.
  2. the balls so arranged: He took aim at the rack.
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.
  2. a bar having a series of notches engaging with a pawl or the like.
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.
a cause or state of intense suffering of body or mind.
torment; anguish.
violent strain.
a pair of antlers.
Slang. a bed, cot, or bunk: I spent all afternoon in the rack.

verb (used with object)

to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain.
to strain in mental effort: to rack one's brains.
to strain by physical force or violence.
to strain beyond what is normal or usual.
to stretch the body of (a person) in torture by means of a rack.
Nautical. to seize (two ropes) together side by side.

Verb Phrases

rack out, Slang. to go to bed; go to sleep: I racked out all afternoon.
rack up,
  1. Pool.to put (the balls) in a rack.
  2. Informal.to tally, accumulate, or amass as an achievement or score: The corporation racked up the greatest profits in its history.

Origin of rack

1
1250–1300; Middle English rakke, rekke (noun) < Middle Dutch rac, rec, recke; compare Middle Low German reck, German Reck
Related formsrack·ing·ly, adverb
Can be confusedrack wrack wreak wreckracked wracked wreaked wrecked

Synonyms for rack

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rack ON THESAURUS.COM
7. torture, pain, agony, tribulation, ordeal. 12. See torment.

rack

3
[rak]

noun

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

verb (used without object)

(of horses) to move in a rack.

Origin of rack

3
First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps variant of rock2

rack

4

or wrack

[rak]

noun

Also called cloud rack. a group of drifting clouds.

verb (used without object)

to drive or move, especially before the wind.

Origin of rack

4
1350–1400; Middle English rak, reck(e); origin uncertain

rack

5
[rak]

verb (used with object)

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

Origin of rack

5
1425–75; late Middle English < Old French; compare obsolete French raqué (of wine) pressed from the dregs of grapes
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for racking

Contemporary Examples of racking

Historical Examples of racking

  • The torment was far too racking for such futile fashion of lamentation.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • Charles had a racking headache, consequent on motoring before food.

    Howards End

    E. M. Forster

  • So he fetched a sigh that sounded as if 'twas racking loose the foundations and commenced.

    Cape Cod Stories

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • I walked home, racking my brains to find the answer to this new conundrum.

    The Rise of Roscoe Paine

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • Are you racking your brain for some way of spoiling my little plans?

    The Princess Virginia

    C. N. Williamson

British Dictionary definitions for racking

rack

1

noun

a framework for holding, carrying, or displaying a specific load or objecta plate rack; a hat rack; a hay rack; a luggage rack
a toothed bar designed to engage a pinion to form a mechanism that will interconvert rotary and rectilinear motions
a framework fixed to an aircraft for carrying bombs, rockets, etc
the rack an instrument of torture that stretched the body of the victim
a cause or state of mental or bodily stress, suffering, etc; anguish; torment (esp in the phrase on the rack)
slang, mainly US a woman's breasts
US and Canadian (in pool, snooker, etc)
  1. the triangular frame used to arrange the balls for the opening shot
  2. the balls so groupedBrit equivalent: frame

verb (tr)

to torture on the rack
Also: wrack to cause great stress or suffering toguilt racked his conscience
Also: wrack to strain or shake (something) violently, as by great physical forcethe storm racked the town
to place or arrange in or on a rackto rack bottles of wine
to move (parts of machinery or a mechanism) using a toothed rack
to raise (rents) exorbitantly; rack-rent
rack one's brains to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
See also rack up
Derived Formsracker, noun

Word Origin for rack

C14 rekke, probably from Middle Dutch rec framework; related to Old High German recchen to stretch, Old Norse rekja to spread out

xref

See wrack 1

rack

2

noun

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

Word Origin for rack

C16: variant of wrack 1

rack

3

noun

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

Word Origin for rack

C16: perhaps based on rock ²

rack

4

noun

a group of broken clouds moving in the wind

verb

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

Word Origin for rack

Old English wrǣc what is driven; related to Gothic wraks persecutor, Swedish vrak wreckage

rack

5

verb (tr)

to clear (wine, beer, etc) as by siphoning it off from the dregs
to fill a container with (beer, wine, etc)

Word Origin for rack

C15: from Old Provençal arraca, from raca dregs of grapes after pressing

rack

6

noun

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

Word Origin for rack

Old English hrace; related to Old High German rahho, Danish harke, Swedish harkla to clear one's throat
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 racking

rack

n.1

"frame with bars," c.1300, possibly from Middle Dutch rec "framework," literally "something stretched out, related to recken (modern rekken) "stretch out," cognate with Old English reccan "to stretch out," from Proto-Germanic *rak- (cf. Old Saxon rekkian, Old Frisian reza, Old Norse rekja, Old High German recchen, German recken, Gothic uf-rakjan "to stretch out"), from PIE *rog-, from root *reg- "to move in a straight line" (see regal).

Meaning "instrument of torture" first recorded early 15c., perhaps from German rackbank, originally an implement for stretching leather, etc. Mechanical meaning "toothed bar" is from 1797 (see pinion). Meaning "set of antlers" is first attested 1945, American English; hence slang sense of "a woman's breasts" (especially if large), by 1991. Meaning "framework for displaying clothes" is from 1948; hence off the rack (1951) of clothing, as opposed to tailored.

rack

n.2

type of gait of a horse, 1580s, from rack (v.) "move with a fast, lively gait" 1520s in this sense (implied in racking), of unknown origin; perhaps from French racquassure "racking of a horse in his pace," itself of unknown origin. Or perhaps a variant of rock (v.1).

rack

n.3

"clouds driven before the wind," c.1300, also "rush of wind, collision, crash," originally a northern word, possibly from Old English racu "cloud" (or an unrecorded Scandinavian cognate of it), reinforced by Old Norse rek "wreckage, jetsam," or by influence of Old English wræc "something driven;" from Proto-Germanic *wrakaz, from PIE root *wreg- "to push, shove" (see wreak-). Often confused with wrack (n.), especially in phrase rack and ruin (1590s). The distinction is that rack is "driven clouds;" wrack is "seaweed cast up on shore."

rack

v.

"to stretch out for drying," also "to torture on the rack," early 15c., from rack (n.1). Of other pains from 1580s. Figurative sense of "to torment" is from c.1600. Meaning "raise above a fair level" (of rent, etc.) is from 1550s. Meaning "fit with racks" is from 1580s. Teenager slang meaning "to sleep" is from 1960s (rack (n.) was Navy slang for "bed" in 1940s). Related: Racked; racking. Rack up "register, accumulate, achieve" is first attested 1943 (in "Billboard"), probably from method of keeping score in pool halls.

rack

n.4

"cut of animal meat and bones," 1560s, of unknown origin; perhaps from some resemblance to rack (n.1). Cf. rack-bone "vertebrae" (1610s).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with racking

rack

In addition to the idioms beginning with rack

  • rack and ruin, go to
  • rack one's brain
  • rack out
  • rack up

also see:

  • on the rack
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.