rack
verb/ræk/
/ræk/
(also less frequent wrack)
[often passive]Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| 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/ |
- 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
See rack in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryrack 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.
Check pronunciation:
rack