rack 1
(răk)n.1. a. A framework or stand in or on which to hold, hang, or display various articles: a trophy rack; a rack for baseball bats in the dugout; a drying rack for laundry.
b. Games A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game.
c. A receptacle for livestock feed.
d. A frame for holding bombs in an aircraft.
2. Slang a. A bunk or bed.
b. Sleep: tried to get some rack.
3. A toothed bar that meshes with a gearwheel, pinion, or other toothed machine part.
4. a. A state of intense anguish.
b. A cause of intense anguish.
5. An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched.
6. A pair of antlers.
7. Vulgar Slang A woman's breasts.
tr.v. racked,
rack·ing,
racks 1. To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack.
2. also
wrack To cause great physical or mental suffering to:
Pain racked his entire body. See Synonyms at
afflict.
3. To torture by means of the rack.
Phrasal Verbs: rack out Slang To go to sleep or get some sleep.
rack up Informal To accumulate or score: rack up points.
Idioms: off the rack Ready-made. Used of clothing.
on the rack Under great stress.
rack (one's) brains/brain To try hard to remember or think of something.
rack′er n.
rack 2
(răk)n. A fast, flashy, four-beat gait of a horse in which each foot touches the ground separately and at equal intervals.
intr.v. racked,
rack·ing,
racks To go or move at a rack.
[Origin unknown.]
rack 3
also wrack (răk)n. A thin mass of wind-driven clouds.
[Middle English rak, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish rak, wreckage.]
rack 4
(răk)
rack 5
(răk)
rack 6
(răk)tr.v. racked,
rack·ing,
racks To drain (wine or cider) from the dregs.
[Middle English rakken, from Old Provençal arracar, from raca, stems and husks of grapes.]
rack 7
(răk)n.1. a. A wholesale rib cut of lamb or veal between the shoulder and the loin.
b. A retail rib cut of lamb or veal, prepared for roasting or for rib chops.
2. The neck and upper spine of mutton, pork, or veal.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.