racket1top: tennis and racquetball rackets
bottom: squash racket
rack·et 1
also rac·quet (răk′ĭt)n.1. A device consisting of an oval or circular frame with a tight interlaced network of strings and a handle, used to strike a ball or shuttlecock in various games.
2. A wooden paddle, as one used in table tennis.
3. A snowshoe.
[Middle English
raket,
a kind of handball, from Old French
rachette,
palm of the hand, racket, from Medieval Latin
rascheta,
palm, from Arabic
rāḥat (al-yad),
palm (of the hand), bound form of
rāḥa; see
rḥ in
Semitic roots.]
rack·et 2
(răk′ĭt)n.1. A loud distressing noise. See Synonyms at
noise.
2. a. A dishonest or fraudulent business or practice.
b. often rackets An illegal moneymaking activity, especially one controlled by organized crime.
3. a. An easy, profitable means of livelihood.
b. Slang A business or occupation.
intr.v. rack·et·ed,
rack·et·ing,
rack·ets 1. To make or move with a loud distressing noise.
2. To lead an active social life.
[Origin unknown.]
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.
racket
(ˈrækɪt) n1. a noisy disturbance or loud commotion; clamour; din
2. gay or excited revelry, dissipation, etc
3. an illegal enterprise carried on for profit, such as extortion, fraud, prostitution, drug peddling, etc
4. slang a business or occupation: what's your racket?.
5. (Instruments)
music a. a medieval woodwind instrument of deep bass pitch
b. a reed stop on an organ of deep bass pitch
vbrare (often foll by: about) to go about gaily or noisily, in search of pleasure, excitement, etc
[C16: probably of imitative origin; compare rattle1]
racket
(ˈrækɪt) or racquet
n1. (General Sporting Terms) a bat consisting of an open network of nylon or other strings stretched in an oval frame with a handle, used to strike the ball in tennis, badminton, etc
2. (Clothing & Fashion) a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket
vb (General Sporting Terms) (tr) to strike (a ball, shuttlecock, etc) with a racket
[C16: from French raquette, from Arabic rāhat palm of the hand]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
rack•et1
art at radiate
(ˈræk ɪt)
n. 1. a loud noise or clamor, esp. of a disturbing or confusing kind; din; uproar.
2. social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation.
3. an organized illegal activity, such as the extortion of money by threat or violence.
4. a dishonest scheme, business, activity, etc.
5. Slang. a. an occupation, livelihood, or business.
b. an easy or profitable source of livelihood.
v.i. 6. to make a racket or noise.
7. to take part in social gaiety or dissipation.
[1555–65; metathetic variant of dial.
rattick; see
rattle]
rack•et2
(ˈræk ɪt)
n. 1. a light bat having a netting of catgut or nylon stretched in a more or less oval frame and used in tennis, badminton, etc.
2. the short-handled paddle used to strike the ball in table tennis and paddle tennis.
4. a snowshoe made in the form of a tennis racket.
Also, racquet (for defs. 1,2,4).[1490–1500; < Middle French raquette, rachette, perhaps < Arabic rāḥet, variant of rāḥah palm of the hand]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.