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wrack1 definition

wrack (rak)

noun

  1. destruction; ruin
  2. a wrecked ship
    1. wreckage
    2. a fragment of something that has been destroyed
  3. seaweed or other marine plant life cast up on shore

Etymology: ME wrak, damage, wrecked ship < MDu wrak, a wreck, wrecked ship; akin to OE wræc, misery, something driven (< wrecan, to wreak)

transitive verb, intransitive verb

Archaic to wreck or be wrecked
wrack2 definition

wrack (rak)

transitive verb

rack; esp.,
  1. to subject to extreme mental or physical suffering; torture
  2. to disturb violently; convulse

Etymology: altered (infl. by wrack) < rack

wrack3 definition

wrack (rak)

noun

a rack of clouds or other vapor

Etymology: altered < rack

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
wrack Usage Examples

Object

  • country: This dead-end job was the best I could do in a country wracked with unemployment ( over 30 % ).

Subject

  • guilt: Wracked by guilt, Billie is now locked into a triangle - a kind of emotional Bermuda triangle of lost souls.

Converse of subject

  • dominate: The dark areas are dominated by serrated wrack Fucus serratus.

Adjective modifier

  • knotted: Ascophyllum nodosum ( egg or knotted wrack ) is a common brown seaweed which grows on sheltered rocky shores all around Britain.

Noun used with modifier

  • bladder: On exposed shores the bladder wrack can be found in the form Fucus vesiculosus linearis.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • up: But most of us don't and record numbers of us are in debt and wracked up thousands on our plastic.

Preposition: with

  • guilt: Wracked with guilt, Frasier goes to her live show to talk her out of it.

Preposition: by

  • guilt: Wracked by guilt, Billie is now locked into a triangle - a kind of emotional Bermuda triangle of lost souls.
wrack usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"wrack." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/wrack>

APA Style

wrack. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/wrack

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