Rack Definition

răk
racked, racking, racks
noun
racks
A framework, grating, case, stand, etc. for holding or displaying various things.
Clothes rack, dish rack, pipe rack, bomb rack.
Webster's New World
A triangular form for arranging billiard balls at the beginning of a game of pool.
Webster's New World
The billiard balls as set up before the break.
Webster's New World
A receptacle for livestock feed.
American Heritage
A lift used for automotive vehicles.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
verb
racked, racking, racks
To arrange in or on a rack.
Webster's New World
To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack.
American Heritage
To go or move at a rack.
American Heritage
To be blown by the wind.
Webster's New World
To cause great physical or mental suffering to.
Pain racked his entire body.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
idiom
off the rack
  • Ready-made. Used of clothing.
American Heritage
on the rack
  • Under great stress.
American Heritage
rack (one's) brains
  • To try hard to remember or think of something.
American Heritage
off the rack
  • ready-made
Webster's New World
on the rack
  • in a very difficult or painful situation
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Rack

Noun

Singular:
rack
Plural:
racks

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Rack

Origin of Rack

  • Middle English rakken from Old Provençal arracar from raca stems and husks of grapes

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English rakke probably from Middle Dutch rec framework reg- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English rak probably of Scandinavian origin Swedish rak wreckage

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Probably from rack

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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