wrack Hear it!

wrack1 definition

wrack (rak)

noun

  1. destruction; ruin
  2. a wrecked ship
    1. wreckage
    2. a fragment of something that has been destroyed
  4. 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 © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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