Rack

14 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, n. [Prob. fr. Icel. rek drift, motion, and akin to
     reka to drive, and E. wrack, wreck. [root]282.]
     Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapor
     in the sky. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           The winds in the upper region, which move the clouds
           above, which we call the rack, . . . pass without
           noise.                                   --Bacon.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And the night rack came rolling up.      --C. Kingsley.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, v. i.
     To fly, as vapor or broken clouds.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\ (r[a^]k), n.
     Same as {Arrack}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, n. [AS. hracca neck, hinder part of the head; cf.
     AS. hraca throat, G. rachen throat, E. retch.]
     The neck and spine of a fore quarter of veal or mutton.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, n. [See {Wreck}.]
     A wreck; destruction. [Obs., except in a few phrases.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Rack and ruin}, destruction; utter ruin. [Colloq.]
  
     {To go to rack}, to perish; to be destroyed. [Colloq.] "All
        goes to rack." --Pepys.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Racked} (r[a^]kt); p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Racking}.] [See {Rack} that which stretches, or
     {Rock}, v.]
     To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the
     body; to pace; -- said of a horse. --Fuller.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\ (r[a^]k), v. t.
     1. To extend by the application of force; to stretch or
        strain; specifically, to stretch on the rack or wheel; to
        torture by an engine which strains the limbs and pulls the
        joints.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He was racked and miserably tormented. --Foxe.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To torment; to torture; to affect with extreme pain or
        anguish.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Vaunting aloud but racked with deep despair.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To stretch or strain, in a figurative sense; hence, to
        harass, or oppress by extortion.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The landlords there shamefully rack their tenants.
                                                    --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They [landlords] rack their rents an ace too high.
                                                    --Gascoigne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Grant that I may never rack a Scripture simile
              beyond the true intent thereof.       --Fuller.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Try what my credit can in Venice do;
              That shall be racked even to the uttermost. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Mining) To wash on a rack, as metals or ore.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Naut.) To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns
        of yarn, marline, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {To rack one's brains} or {To rack one's brains out} or {To
     rack one's wits}, to exert one's thinking processes to the
        utmost for the purpose of accomplishing something; as, I
        racked my brains out trying to find a way to solve the
        problem.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     Syn: To torture; torment; rend; tear.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, n.
     A fast amble.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, v. t. [Cf. OF. vin raqu['e] wine squeezed from the
     dregs of the grapes.]
     To draw off from the lees or sediment, as wine.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           It is in common practice to draw wine or beer from the
           lees (which we call racking), whereby it will clarify
           much the sooner.                         --Bacon.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Rack vintage}, wine cleansed and drawn from the lees.
        --Cowell.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rack \Rack\, n. [Probably fr. D. rek, rekbank, a rack, rekken to
     stretch; akin to G. reck, reckbank, a rack, recken to
     stretch, Dan. r[ae]kke, Sw. r[aum]cka, Icel. rekja to spread
     out, Goth. refrakjan to stretch out; cf. L. porrigere, Gr.
     'ore`gein. [root]115. Cf. {Right}, a., {Ratch}.]
     1. An instrument or frame used for stretching, extending,
        retaining, or displaying, something. Specifically:
        (a) An engine of torture, consisting of a large frame,
            upon which the body was gradually stretched until,
            sometimes, the joints were dislocated; -- formerly
            used judicially for extorting confessions from
            criminals or suspected persons.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  During the troubles of the fifteenth century, a
                  rack was introduced into the Tower, and was
                  occasionally used under the plea of political
                  necessity.                        --Macaulay.
            [1913 Webster]
        (b) An instrument for bending a bow.
        (c) A grate on which bacon is laid.
        (d) A frame or device of various construction for holding,
            and preventing the waste of, hay, grain, etc.,
            supplied to beasts.
        (e) A frame on which articles are deposited for keeping or
            arranged for display; as, a clothes rack; a bottle
            rack, etc.
        (f) (Naut.) A piece or frame of wood, having several
            sheaves, through which the running rigging passes; --
            called also {rack block}. Also, a frame to hold shot.
        (g) (Mining) A frame or table on which ores are separated
            or washed.
        (h) A frame fitted to a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or
            grain on the stalk, or other bulky loads.
        (i) A distaff.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mech.) A bar with teeth on its face, or edge, to work
        with those of a wheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive
        it or be driven by it.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. That which is extorted; exaction. [Obs.] --Sir E. Sandys.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Mangle rack}. (Mach.) See under {Mangle}. n.
  
     {Rack block}. (Naut.) See def. 1
        (f), above.
  
     {Rack lashing}, a lashing or binding where the rope is
        tightened, and held tight by the use of a small stick of
        wood twisted around.
  
     {Rack rail} (Railroads), a toothed rack, laid as a rail, to
        afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of a
        locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a
        mountain.
  
     {Rack saw}, a saw having wide teeth.
  
     {Rack stick}, the stick used in a rack lashing.
  
     {To be on the rack}, to suffer torture, physical or mental.
        
  
     {To live at rack and manger}, to live on the best at
        another's expense. [Colloq.]
  
     {To put to the rack}, to subject to torture; to torment.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A fit of the stone puts a king to the rack, and
              makes him as miserable as it does the meanest
              subject.                              --Sir W.
                                                    Temple.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  rack
       n 1: framework for holding objects
       2: rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially
          lamb or mutton
       3: the destruction or collapse of something; "wrack and ruin"
          [syn: {wrack}]
       4: an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or
          mutilates victims [syn: {wheel}]
       5: a support for displaying various articles; "the newspapers
          were arranged on a rack" [syn: {stand}]
       6: a rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the
          ground separately [syn: {single-foot}]
       v 1: go at a rack; "the horses single-footed" [syn: {single-foot}]
       2: stretch to the limits; "rack one's brains"
       3: put on a rack and pinion; "rack a camera"
       4: obtain by coercion or intimidation; "They extorted money
          from the executive by threatening to reveal his past to
          the company boss"; "They squeezed money from the owner of
          the business by threatening him" [syn: {extort}, {squeeze},
           {gouge}, {wring}]
       5: run before a gale [syn: {scud}]
       6: fly in high wind
       7: draw off from the lees; "rack wine"
       8: torment emotionally or mentally [syn: {torment}, {torture},
          {excruciate}]
       9: work on a rack; "rack leather"
       10: seize together, as of parallel ropes of a tackle in order to
           prevent running through the block
       11: torture on the rack

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  357 Moby Thesaurus words for "rack":
     Chateaubriand, Hydromatic, Procrustean bed, adversity, afflict,
     affliction, agonize, agony, ail, amble, andante, anguish, archives,
     armory, arsenal, atrocious pain, attic, automatic transmission,
     bank, barge, basement, batter, bay, beat, bed of Procrustes,
     beleaguer, bin, bite, blade roast, bloody, bonded warehouse,
     bookcase, boot, bowl along, box, breast, brisket, bundle, bunker,
     burn, buttery, cargo dock, cellar, chafe, chest, chuck,
     chuck roast, claudication, claw, clawing, clod, closet, clump,
     cogwheel, cold cuts, confinement, conservatory, convulse, crate,
     crawl, creep, crib, cruciation, crucifixion, crucify, cupboard,
     cut, damage, dead march, depository, depot, differential,
     differential gear, dismember, dismemberment, distress, dock,
     dogtrot, drag, draw and quarter, drawer, droop, dump, estrapade,
     exchequer, excruciate, excruciation, fester, filet mignon, flank,
     flounce, foot, footpace, footslog, frame, framework, freewheel,
     fret, funeral march, gait, gall, galleys, gallop, gear, gear train,
     gearbox, gearing, gearshift, gearwheel, give pain, glory hole,
     gnaw, godown, grate, grill, grind, gripe, halt, harass, hard labor,
     harrow, haul, heave, hell, hell upon earth, high, hippety-hop,
     hitch, hobble, hold, holder, holocaust, hop, horror, hurt, hutch,
     impale, impalement, imprisonment, incarceration, inflame,
     inflict pain, intermediate, iron heel, irritate, jailing, jog,
     jog trot, jolt, jump, keelhaul, keelhauling, kill by inches,
     knuckle, lacerate, laceration, lancinate, lancination,
     leisurely gait, library, limp, lock step, locker, loin, low,
     lumber, lumber room, lumbering pace, lumberyard, lunge, lurch,
     macerate, magasin, magazine, martyr, martyrdom, martyrization,
     martyrize, mince, mincing steps, misery, neutral, nightmare, nip,
     oppress, overdrive, overexert, overexertion, overextend,
     overextension, overstrain, overstress, overtax, overtaxing, pace,
     paddle, pain, passion, peg, penal servitude, persecute,
     persecution, piaffe, piaffer, picket, picketing, pierce, pinch,
     plague, plate, plate piece, plod, pot roast, prance, press, prick,
     prolong the agony, pull, punish, purgatory, put to torture,
     railriding, rankle, rasp, repertory, repository, reservoir,
     reverse, rib roast, ribs, rick, rip, roast, rock pile, roll,
     rolled roast, round, rub, rump, rump roast, saddle, sashay,
     saunter, savage, scaffold, scaffolding, scarify, scarpines,
     scourge, screw, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, shake, shamble, shank,
     shelf, short ribs, shoulder, shoulder clod, shuffle, sidle,
     single-foot, sirloin, skip, slink, slither, slog, slouch,
     slow march, slow motion, slowness, stab, stack, stack room,
     stagger, stalk, stamp, stand, standard transmission, step,
     stick shift, sting, stock room, stomp, storage, store, storehouse,
     storeroom, straddle, straggle, strain, strain every nerve,
     straining, strappado, stress, stress and strain, stressfulness,
     stretch, stretcher, stride, stroll, strolling gait, structure,
     strut, stump, suffering, supply base, supply depot, support,
     swagger, sweat blood, swing, synchromesh, tank, tar and feather,
     tar-and-feathering, tax, taxing, tenderloin, tense, tension,
     the gantlet, thumbscrew, tittup, toddle, torment, torture, totter,
     traipse, transmission, tread, treasure house, treasure room,
     treasury, trestle, trip, trot, trudge, try, tug, tweak, twist, vat,
     vault, velocity, waddle, walk, wamble, warehouse, wheel, wiggle,
     wine cellar, wobble, wound, wrench, wring
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  RACK, punishments. An engine with which to torture a supposed criminal, in 
  order to extort a confession of his supposed crime, and the names of his 
  supposed accomplices. Unknown in the United States. 
       2. This instrument, known by the nickname of the Duke of Exeter's 
  daughter, was in use in England. Barr. on the Stat. 866 12 S. & R. 227. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  RACK, n.  An argumentative implement formerly much used in persuading
  devotees of a false faith to embrace the living truth.  As a call to
  the unconverted the rack never had any particular efficacy, and is now
  held in light popular esteem.