Library / English Dictionary

RACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately

Synonyms:

rack; single-foot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

gait (a horse's manner of moving)

Derivation:

rack (go at a rack)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A form of torture in which pain is inflicted by stretching the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

torture; torturing (the deliberate, systematic, or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons in an attempt to force another person to yield information or to make a confession or for any other reason)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A support for displaying various articles

Example:

the newspapers were arranged on a rack

Synonyms:

rack; stand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Meronyms (parts of "rack"):

spit (a skewer for holding meat over a fire)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rack"):

bier (a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial)

cruet-stand (a stand for cruets containing various condiments)

dress rack (a rack used primarily to display dresses for sale in a store)

magazine rack (a rack for displaying magazines)

music rack; music stand (a light stand for holding sheets of printed music)

spice rack (a rack for displaying containers filled with spices)

tripod (a three-legged rack used for support)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Framework for holding objects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rack"):

towel horse; towel rack (a rack consisting of one or more bars on which towels can be hung)

toastrack (a rack for holding slices of toast)

tie rack (a rack for storing ties)

plate rack (a rack for holding plates to dry after they have been washed)

pipe rack (a rack for holding a smoker's pipes)

hayrack (a rack that holds hay for feeding livestock)

dish rack (a rack for holding dishes as dishwater drains off of them)

coat rack; coatrack; hatrack (a rack with hooks for temporarily holding coats and hats)

carrier (a rack attached to a vehicle; for carrying luggage or skis or the like)

bicycle rack (a rack for parking bicycles)

barbecue; barbeque (a rack to hold meat for cooking over hot charcoal usually out of doors)

Derivation:

rack (work on a rack)

rack (put on a rack and pinion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims

Synonyms:

rack; wheel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

instrument of torture (an instrument of punishment designed and used to inflict torture on the condemned person)

Derivation:

rack (torture on the rack)

rack (torment emotionally or mentally)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The destruction or collapse of something

Example:

wrack and ruin

Synonyms:

rack; wrack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

demolition; destruction; wipeout (an event (or the result of an event) that completely destroys something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("rack" is a kind of...):

cut; cut of meat (a piece of meat that has been cut from an animal carcass)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rack"):

crown roast; rack of lamb (a roast of the rib section of lamb)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Torture on the rack

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

excruciate; torment; torture (subject to torture)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

rack (an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Seize together, as of parallel ropes of a tackle in order to prevent running through the block

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

clutch; prehend; seize (take hold of; grab)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Work on a rack

Example:

rack leather

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

process; work; work on (shape, form, or improve a material)

"Rack" entails doing...:

stretch (pull in opposite directions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

rack (framework for holding objects)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Stretch to the limits

Example:

rack one's brains

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

strain; stress; try (test the limits of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Torment emotionally or mentally

Synonyms:

excruciate; rack; torment; torture

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

anguish; hurt; pain (cause emotional anguish or make miserable)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

rack (an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Draw off from the lees

Example:

rack wine

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

draw; take out (take liquid out of a container or well)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Fly in high wind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

fly; wing (travel through the air; be airborne)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 8

Meaning:

Run before a gale

Synonyms:

rack; scud

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

sail (travel on water propelled by wind)

Domain category:

navigation; pilotage; piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 9

Meaning:

Go at a rack

Example:

the horses single-footed

Synonyms:

rack; single-foot

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

pace (go at a pace)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

rack (a rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Obtain by coercion or intimidation

Example:

They squeezed money from the owner of the business by threatening him

Synonyms:

extort; gouge; rack; squeeze; wring

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

fleece; gazump; hook; overcharge; pluck; plume; rob; soak; surcharge (rip off; ask an unreasonable price)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rack"):

bleed (get or extort (money or other possessions) from someone)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 11

Meaning:

Put on a rack and pinion

Example:

rack a camera

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "rack" is one way to...):

put to work; work (cause to work)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

rack (framework for holding objects)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He had no thoughts save for the nerve- racking, body-destroying toil.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When staying in hotels, put your suitcases on luggage racks instead of the floor.

(Bedbugs, Environmental Protection Agency)

The horse made me a sign to go in first; it was a large room with a smooth clay floor, and a rack and manger, extending the whole length on one side.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It was no longer the fear of the gallows, it was the horror of being Hyde that racked me.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Here, where canoes were cached on poles high in the air and where stood fish-racks for the drying of fish, camp was made; and White Fang looked on with wondering eyes.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

An airing in the Hartfield carriage would have been the rack, and arrowroot from the Hartfield storeroom must have been poison.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The sulky dogs would rather have three twists of a rack, or the thumbikins for an hour, than pay out a denier for their own feudal father and liege lord.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There they crouched by the fire, the pair of them, at the end of their days, old and withered and helpless, racked by rheumatism, bitten by hunger, and tantalized by the frying-odors of my abundance of meat.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As soon as I could use my hands she taught me to knit, which has been a great amusement; and she put me in the way of making these little thread-cases, pin-cushions and card-racks, which you always find me so busy about, and which supply me with the means of doing a little good to one or two very poor families in this neighbourhood.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“Let us walk along the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. We are more likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. The sea air, sunshine, and patience, Watson—all else will come.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)