rack punchn.
/ˈrak pʌn(t)ʃ/, U.S. /ˈræk ˌpən(t)ʃ/ Now historical.
Punch made with arrack (arrack n.).
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > hot alcoholic drinks (with milk or eggs) > [noun] > punch > types of punch
rum punch1683
brandy-punch1689
milk punch1702
rack punch1713
tea-punch1728
rumbo1738
lime-punch1774
Tom and Jerries1822
poteen punch1826
Oxford punch1827
bimbo1837
mumbo-jum1837
1713 R. Steele Guardian No. 143. ⁋3 Rack-punch, quickned with brandy and gun-powder.
1752 H. Fielding Amelia II. iv. i. 4 The Governor..trumpeted forth the Praises of his Rack-Punch.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Sangaree, rack punch was formerly so called in bagnio's.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) vi. 49 He insisted upon having a bowl of rack punch; everybody had rack punch at Vauxhall.
1909 T. H. Lewin Lewin Lett. I. ii. 187. After dinner the Chairman brewed a bowl of rack punch.
1922 Musical Times 63 620 The hilarity that..accompanied the rack punch for which Vauxhall was famous.
1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor ii. xi. 215 I..drank a deal of rackpunch, that the rogue of a barman had laced with such poisonous molasses rum I near went blind on the spot.
1996 Novel 29 238 Buffoonishly dependent on such artificial stimuli as chili peppers and rack punch.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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