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)
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wracked,
past participle, past
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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 )
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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
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has wrackedperfect
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am wrackingprogressive
-
are wrackingprogressive
-
is wrackingprogressive
-
have been wrackingperfect progressive
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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:
Also unearthed were fireplaces containing evidence of the burning of toothed wrack seaweed to form soda ash.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
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
The abundance of predatory shorebirds, like sandpipers and plovers, lagged behind the deposition of wrack on beaches.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2024
These are things that like really wrack the minds of a lot of creatives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
After we had tied the skiff high above the wrack line, we took Mouse inside with us and locked the door and all the windows but the one next to Osh’s bed.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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
The seaweeds with the greatest nutritional value include those often referred to as the "wracks".
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
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
Rowe wracked her brain for something, or someone, who might be able to help her sister.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
An equally frightening story that’s not in the book involves a two-week stretch in his MLS career during which Donovan was so wracked by depression he couldn’t get off the couch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
"In other words, these people are coming into a country that is wracked by drought, that has unemployment, and that now has conflict inside it."
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Her thighs were chafed raw, her hands blis-tered from the reins, the muscles of her legs and back so wracked with pain that she could scarcely sit.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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
In 1972, with enrollment dwindling and poverty and violence wracking the city, the order split and the school shut down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 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
Surely the cough was less wracking than it had been.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions 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.
