rack-rentv.

1745 Addr. of Thanks to Broad-Bottoms 28 The tenants were rack-rented unnecessarily, because if the old Rents were fairly collected, and honestly apply'd, there would be a Sufficiency..without raising of the Rents.

1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xiii. 76 It was a maxim with his family..never to rack-rent old tenants, or their descendants.

1784 Edinb. Advertiser 5–9 May 294/2 The old grey-bearded stewards, who had rack-rented the tenants.

1844 W. H. Sleeman Rambles & Recoll. Indian Official I. xxxv. 336 The prince rack-rents the farmer, the farmer rack-rents the cultivator, and the cultivator rack-rents the soil.

1879 H. George Progress & Poverty ii. ii. 105 In large parts of India the English..turned over the soil in absolute possession to hereditary tax-gatherers, who rack-rent the cultivators most mercilessly.

1891 Times 23 May 8/2 As the farmers had been rack-rented so they rack-rented the agricultural labourers.

1933 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 96 9 If he rackrents his tenants, the fair rental calculation enables the special courts to relieve them.

1967 K. Giles Death in Diamonds vi. 108 Unfortunate Africans..were being rack-rented under excruciating circumstances at ninety-eight Biddle Street.

1995 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 55 676 A positive value for tenant-right was incompatible with the idea that Irish landlords rack-rented their tenants.

1771 Origin Disorders E. India Affairs 3 Mr Hollwell..took the management of the Bazars, and rack-rented them.

1799 H. M. Bird Proposals for Paying off National Debt 46 Lands, also, which are now tithe-free and rack-rented accordingly, will not be worth more than twenty-seven years' purchase.

1818 Edinb. Advertiser 30 Jan. 68/2 The inquiry after farms that are not very much rack-rented has left not many farms unlet.

1885 Times 28 Feb. 9/4 We condemn the O'Briens of Coolquil, for taking a farm which was surrendered by Mr Chadwick for being rack-rented.

1926 Times Dec. 16 7/5 You have a standard rate of 2s. 6d. a week on houses built by large land-owners and to-day worth 15s. a week, as compared with a house which was rack-rented at the time of standardization.

1940 A. H. M. Jones Greek City i i. 19 The land, which was regarded as crown property, was..rack rented in small lots to the natives.

1997 Population & Develop. Rev. 23 703 The older residential buildings in the center were simply rack-rented, predominantly by the same class, to the maximum density for the maximum profit.