- a variation of rack.
wrack
Americannoun
-
wreck or wreckage.
-
damage or destruction.
wrack and ruin.
-
a trace of something destroyed.
leaving not a wrack behind.
-
seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.
verb (used with object)
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wracks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wracked,
past participle, past
-
wracking
present participle
noun
-
seaweed or other marine vegetation that is floating in the sea or has been cast ashore
-
any of various seaweeds of the genus Fucus, such as F. serratus ( serrated wrack )
-
literary
-
a wreck or piece of wreckage
-
a remnant or fragment of something destroyed
-
noun
-
collapse or destruction (esp in the phrase wrack and ruin )
-
something destroyed or a remnant of such
verb
Usage
The use of the spelling wrack rather than rack in sentences such as she was wracked by grief or the country was wracked by civil war is very common but is thought by many people to be incorrect
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wracksimple
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wrackssimple
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have wrackedperfect
-
has wrackedperfect
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am wrackingprogressive
-
are wrackingprogressive
-
is wrackingprogressive
-
have been wrackingperfect progressive
-
has been wrackingperfect progressive
Past
-
wrackedsimple
-
had wrackedperfect
-
was wrackingprogressive
-
were wrackingprogressive
-
had been wrackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wrack
First recorded before 900; Middle English wrak (noun), Old English wræc “vengeance, misery,” akin to wracu “vengeance, misery,” wrecan “to drive out, punish”; see wreak
Explanation
Wrack is when something falls into disrepair. When an old house deteriorates, you can describe its wrack, or the process of its crumbling collapse. You're most likely to come across the noun wrack in the phrase "go to wrack and ruin." This is a descriptive way to talk about the collapse or gradual breakdown of something, either literal — "I hate to see that building go to wrack and ruin," or figurative — "Their marriage went to wrack and ruin after a year." In the fourteenth century, a wrack was a shipwreck, from the Middle Dutch wrak, or "wreck."
Vocabulary lists containing wrack
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Containing extracts of seaweeds such as toothed wrack and sea spaghetti, seaweed-based skincare lines claim anti-photoaging, hydrating and protective, nourishing and skin-plumping effects.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024
It revealed patterns of synchrony -- where the abundance of kelp wrack on beaches could be explained by kelp abundance in the forest, wave action, and beach width fluctuating together.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
“I wrack my memory to recall a concert in which music was worse served,” I wrote then.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
Every four years, the same few countries wrack up medal after medal - the US, China, Russia - and Tokyo 2020 was no different.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2021
Then he saw against the Sun, sinking blood-red into a wrack of clouds, the black outline of a tall ship with torn sails riding up out of the West.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Like many of us at this time of year, Josie Hughes wracks her brain to think of gifts for friends and family.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2024
Bladder, toothed and spiral wracks often have notably higher antioxidant contents than many other seaweeds.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024
To offset the loss of work, he scrambles to pick up classes at other colleges or universities, or wracks up credit card debt for basic expenses such as rent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2023
The former governor has kept a public profile as the coronavirus crisis wracks health care workers across the country and has resulted in stay-at-home orders and other restrictions for many Americans.
From Fox News ● Apr. 1, 2020
The remembrance of her imminent departure wracks my old body with grief, but it’s quickly displaced by joy—I am now close enough to hear the music thumping from the big top.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
In a vast rural nation wracked by war, Ukrposhta is part of the glue that holds the country together.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
In the chapter titled “Cerium,” Levi describes how, wracked with hunger, he stole iron-cerium rods to make flints for cigarette lighters so that he could exchange them for bread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The smell of burning reached central Madrid early Saturday, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to visit the zone wracked by what officials have called the surrounding region's worst fire on record.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
The recent software rally has offered some vindication for bulls who stood by their contrarian calls after a brutal selloff wracked the sector earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
Then the memory of Hamlet’s words tormented me and my own tears wracked me until, exhausted, I fell into an uneasy slumber.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
But it also means millions of Americans are carrying a credit-card balance — with many of them wracking up credit-card debt to buy food, according to a new Urban Institute report.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Then there is the biggest challenge: contending with the strains now wracking the trans-Atlantic alliance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
"Today was a little bit nerve wracking, especially waiting for what the final say was going to be," Korda said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
“It’s nerve wracking to watch him — you couldn’t get a better match for the fans, but I hated it,” Sinjin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2025
I was wracking my brain for Oregon when the hard Whipple eye fell on me.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
