rack

RAK/ɹæk/

Pluralracks

Verbracks, racking, racked

38 meanings of rack

Practice

1
nouncountable
A frame with bars, hooks, or shelves that holds, stores, or carries things.
Please put the books back on the rack when you are done.
We have a tall rack in the garage for paint and tools.
UsagePut your bike in the bike rack.
Similarstand, frame, holder
2
rib cutnouncountable
A piece of meat with several ribs still joined side by side.
Dad cooked a rack of lamb for my birthday dinner.
We shared a rack of ribs at the barbecue place.
UsageSay a rack of lamb.
3
cause sufferingverbtransitive
To make someone feel a lot of pain.
Bad dreams rack her almost every night.
A terrible cough racked his whole body.
UsageSay racked with guilt or pain.
Similartorment, torture, afflict, agonize, hurt
Note
4
nouncountable
A metal bar with teeth along it that fit into a gear wheel or a catch.
The little train climbs the mountain by gripping a rack between the rails.
When you turn the knob, a small gear moves the rack up and down.
Note
5
verbfigurativelytransitive
To push something too far, or to treat people badly by taking too much money from them.
I racked my brain but could not remember her name.
Don't rack your brain over it. The answer is simple.
UsageRack your brain means think very hard.
Similarstrain, stretch, squeeze, oppress
Note
6
place on frameverbtransitive
To put something on or in a rack.
Please rack the plates after you wash them.
We racked our bikes outside the library.
7
torture devicenounhistoricalcountable
A machine once used to hurt people by stretching their body much too far.
In the castle museum you can see the old rack that was used on prisoners.
Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack, / Where men enforced do speak anything.
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”Here, rack means a device for torture that stretched a person's body.
UsagePeople were once put on the rack.
Note
8
breastsnounslangvulgarcountable
The breasts of a woman.
He got slapped for making a joke about her rack.
People complained that the ad was just showing off the model's rack.
UsageComments like a nice rack can sound sexist.
Similarbust, chest, boobs
9
clear wineverbtransitive
To move wine or beer away from the thick layer at the bottom, so it becomes clear.
We racked the cider into clean jugs after two weeks.
Dad will rack the wine again before he bottles it.
Similarsiphon, decant
Note

Less common meanings

10
antlersnouncountable
The antlers on the head of a deer, moose, or elk.
That deer has a really big rack.
The moose rubbed its rack against a tree.
Similarantlers
11
pool trianglenouncountable
In pool or snooker, the triangle used to put the balls in place before a game.
He pushed the balls together in the rack and lifted it off.
Can you hand me the rack so we can start a new game?
Similartriangle
12
set up (pool)verbtransitive or intransitive
To put the balls in the triangle and set them up on the table for a new game.
Can you rack the balls while I chalk my cue?
He racked the balls so loosely that the break was a mess.
UsageSay rack the balls before a game.
13
verbtransitive
To hurt someone badly by stretching their body on a machine made for torture.
The guards threatened to rack the prisoner until he talked.
In the old castle, prisoners were racked in a room under the tower.
Similartorture
Note
14
thousand dollarsnounslangcountable
A thousand dollars, often money that came from a crime.
He got paid a rack to keep his mouth shut.
They split the stolen money, three racks each.
UsageSay twenty racks, with an s.
Similargrand, stack
Note
15
load a gunverbtransitive
To pull back part of a gun by hand so a bullet moves into place, ready to fire.
The officer racked the shotgun before stepping into the dark room.
You have to rack the slide before the pistol will fire.
Similarchamber, cycle
Note
16
chip traynouncountable
A plastic tray used to hold and carry chips in a casino or card game.
The dealer filled a rack with blue chips.
I carried my rack of chips over to the cashier.
Similartray
17
bunknounslangcountable
A bunk, the kind of narrow bed sailors sleep in on a ship.
After a long night on watch, the sailor fell into his rack and slept for ten hours.
Every morning we had to make our racks before breakfast.
UsageHit the rack: go to bed.
Similarbunk, berth, bed
Note
18
sleepnounslanguncountable
Sleep, or time spent sleeping.
I'm going to grab some rack before my next shift.
He only got three hours of rack last night.
UsageSay get some rack: get some sleep.
Similarsleep, shuteye, kip
Note
19
verbtransitive
To steal something, especially from a shop.
Someone racked my headphones from my desk while I was at lunch.
Don't rack my snacks while I'm gone.
Similarsteal, pinch, swipe, nick, lift
20
verbslangtransitive
To hit a man or boy in the testicles.
My little brother got racked by a soccer ball at recess.
The kids at camp kept trying to rack each other during wrestling.
21
nounobsolete
Destruction, or the state of being badly broken and ruined.
If nobody fixes the roof, the house will go to rack and ruin.
The garden went to rack and ruin while the family was away all summer.
UsageSay go to rack and ruin: fall apart.
Note
22
nounslang
The set of clips, straps, and other gear a climber carries to stay safe on the rock.
23
noun
A metal frame with bars that a rope winds through, used to control your speed when you slide down a rope.
24
verb
To push on a frame or building so its parts lean or shift different ways.
25
verb
Of a horse, to walk fast with a rocking, swinging step.
26
noun
A fast, easy walk that some horses use.
27
noun
Thin, broken clouds that move fast across the sky.
28
noun
A wooden frame with wheels that guide ropes on a ship.
29
noun
A stick that holds wool or flax for spinning.
30
noun
A tool with gears used to pull back the string of a crossbow.
31
nounobsolete
One of the bones that make up a horse.
Racks, the bones of a dead horse. Term used by horse-slaughterers.
1873, Slang Dictionary, John Camden Hotten
32
noun
A set with a self-distributing rule combining pairs, with one first input for each second input and result.
33
verb
To wash ore or metal on a sloping frame.
34
verb
To tie two ropes together by wrapping thin cord across them.
35
verb
To rush on.
36
verb
To move fast across the sky in the wind, as clouds or mist do.
37
nounobsolete
A young rabbit's skin, or the young animal itself.
Rabbit skins are sorted into wholes, halves, quarters, racks, and suckers, or very small skins.
1892, Henry Poland, Fur-bearing Animals in Nature and in Commerce
38
noun
Arrack, a strong alcoholic drink made in Asia from rice, palm sap, or sugarcane.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of rack apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4, 7–8, 10–11, 14, 16–18

From the Middle Dutch word rac.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Rack derives from Middle Dutch rac. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 3, 5–6, 12–13, 15, 19–20

From an Old English word meaning "to stretch out".

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Rack derives from an Old English word meaning “to stretch out”. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 9

From the Middle English word rakken.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Rack derives from Middle English rakken. en.wiktionary.org