rack

noun

/ræk/

Idioms

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(often in compounds) a piece of equipment, usually made of metal or wooden bars, that is used for holding things or for hanging things on
- a vegetable/wine/plate/toast rack
- I looked through a rack of clothes at the back of the shop.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
see also luggage rack, roof rack
Extra Examples
- Spread the flowers out to dry on a rack.
- The racks along the wall held most of the costumes.
- The wine is stored in special racks.
- a rack for storing apples
- racks of magazines
Topics Shoppingc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- display
- storage
- cooling
- …
verb + rack
- hang something on
- put something on
- put something onto
- …
rack + verb
- contain something
- hold something
preposition
- in a/the rack
- on a/the rack
- rack for
- …
See full entry
(usually the rack)
an instrument of torture, used in the past for punishing and hurting people. Their arms and legs were tied to the wooden frame and then pulled in opposite directions, stretching the body.
rack of lamb/pork a particular piece of meat that includes the front ribs and is cooked in the ovenTopics Foodc2
a part of a machine that consists of a bar with parts that a wheel or gear can fit into

Word Originnoun senses 1 to 2 and verb Middle English: from Middle Dutch rec, Middle Low German rek ‘horizontal bar or shelf’, probably from recken ‘to stretch, reach’.noun sense 3 late 16th cent.: of unknown origin.

Idioms

go to rack and ruin

to get into a bad condition
- They let the house go to rack and ruin.
More Like This Alliteration in idioms
Alliteration in idioms
- belt and braces
- black and blue
- born and bred
- chalk and cheese
- chop and change
- done and dusted
- down and dirty
- in dribs and drabs
- eat somebody out of house and home
- facts and figures
- fast and furious
- first and foremost
- forgive and forget
- hale and hearty
- hem and haw
- kith and kin
- mix and match
- part and parcel
- puff and pant
- to rack and ruin
- rant and rave
- risk life and limb
- short and sweet
- signed and sealed
- spic and span
- through thick and thin
- this and that
- top and tail
- tried and tested
- wax and wane

off the rack (North American English)

(British English off the peg)

(of clothes) made to a standard average size and not made specially to fit you
- He buys his clothes off the rack
- off-the-rack fashions
Topics Clothes and Fashionc2

on the rack

feeling extreme pressure, worry or pain

rack

verb

/ræk/

(also less frequent wrack)

[often passive]

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they rack	/ræk/ /ræk/
he / she / it racks	/ræks/ /ræks/
past simple racked	/rækt/ /rækt/
past participle racked	/rækt/ /rækt/
-ing form racking	/ˈrækɪŋ/ /ˈrækɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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to make somebody suffer great physical or mental pain
- be racked by/with something to be racked with/by guilt
- Her face was racked with pain.
- rack somebody/something Violent sobs racked her whole body.
- (British English) a racking cough
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 2 and verb Middle English: from Middle Dutch rec, Middle Low German rek ‘horizontal bar or shelf’, probably from recken ‘to stretch, reach’.noun sense 3 late 16th cent.: of unknown origin.

Idioms

rack your brain(s)

to think very hard or for a long time about something
- She racked her brains, trying to remember exactly what she had said.
- We racked our brains but we couldn't come up with a solution.