Definition of racks Racks

/ɹæˈks/ - [raks] -

We found 3 definitions of racks from 2 different sources.

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What does racks mean?

Wiktionary Wiktionary dictionary logo

  • racks (Noun)
    Plural of rack.

Part of speech

🔤
  • racks, verb, present, 3rd person singular of rack (infinitive).
  • racks, noun, plural of rack.

WordNet

WordNet by Princeton University

Noun

Plural: racks

rack - framework for holding objects
  framework a structure supporting or containing something
  barbecue, barbeque a rack to hold meat for cooking over hot charcoal usually out of doors
  bicycle rack a rack for parking bicycles
  carrier (genetics) an organism that possesses a recessive gene whose effect is masked by a dominant allele; the associated trait is not apparent but can be passed on to offspring
  coat rack, coatrack, hatrack a rack with hooks for temporarily holding coats and hats
  dish rack a rack for holding dishes as dishwater drains off of them
  hayrack a frame attached to a wagon to increase the amount of hay it can carry
  pipe rack a rack for holding a smoker's pipes
  plate rack a rack for holding plates to dry after they have been washed
  tie rack a rack for storing ties
  toastrack a rack for holding slices of toast
rack - a support for displaying various articles; "the newspapers were arranged on a rack"
  stand
  support a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission; "they called for artillery support"
  bier a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial
  cruet-stand a stand for cruets containing various condiments
  dress rack a rack used primarily to display dresses for sale in a store
  magazine rack a rack for displaying magazines
  music rack, music stand a light stand for holding sheets of printed music
  spice rack a rack for displaying containers filled with spices
  spit the act of spitting (forcefully expelling saliva)
rack - a rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately
  single-foot
  gait a person's manner of walking
rack - an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims
  wheel
  instrument of torture an instrument of punishment designed and used to inflict torture on the condemned person
rack - rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton
  cut of meat, cut an unexcused absence from class; "he was punished for taking too many cuts in his math class"
rack - a form of torture in which pain is inflicted by stretching the body
rack - the destruction or collapse of something; "wrack and ruin"
  wrack
  demolition, wipeout, destruction the act of demolishing

Verb

racks, racking, racked  

rack - work on a rack; "rack leather"
  stretch extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body; "Stretch your legs!"; "Extend your right arm above your head"
  work on, process, work subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition; "process cheese"; "process hair"; "treat the water so it can be drunk"; "treat the lawn with chemicals" ; "treat an oil spill"
rack - torture on the rack
  excruciate, torture, torment subject to torture; "The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible"
rack - put on a rack and pinion; "rack a camera"
  put to work, work arrive at a certain condition through repeated motion; "The stitches of the hem worked loose after she wore the skirt many times"
rack - seize together, as of parallel ropes of a tackle in order to prevent running through the block
  prehend, clutch, seize affect; "Fear seized the prisoners"; "The patient was seized with unbearable pains"; "He was seized with a dreadful disease"
rack - stretch to the limits; "rack one's brains"
  stress, strain, try put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"
rack - draw off from the lees; "rack wine"
  take out, draw buy and consume food from a restaurant or establishment that sells prepared food; "We'll take out pizza, since I am too tired to cook"
rack - fly in high wind
  wing, fly change quickly from one emotional state to another; "fly into a rage"
rack - torment emotionally or mentally
  torment, torture, excruciate
  anguish, pain, hurt suffer great pains or distress
rack - 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"
  extort, squeeze, gouge, wring
  fleece, gazump, overcharge, rob, pluck, plume, surcharge, soak, hook shear the wool from; "shear sheep"
  bleed draw blood; "In the old days, doctors routinely bled patients as part of the treatment"
rack - run before a gale
  scud
  sail traverse or travel on (a body of water); "We sailed the Atlantic"; "He sailed the Pacific all alone"
  pilotage, piloting, navigation the occupation of a pilot
rack - go at a rack; "the horses single-footed"
  single-foot
  pace measure (distances) by pacing; "step off ten yards"
= synonym
= antonym
= related word

Wiktionary Wiktionary dictionary logo

  • rack (Noun)
    A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.
  • rack (Noun)
    A frame on which to hang various items.
  • rack (Noun)
    A device used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.
  • rack (Noun)
    A pair of antlers as on deer, moose or elk.
  • rack (Noun)
    A cut of meat involving several adjacent ribs.
  • rack (Noun)
    A hollow triangle used for aligning the balls at the start of a game.
  • rack (Noun)
    A woman's breasts.
  • rack (Noun)
    A friction device for abseiling, consisting of a frame with 5 or more metal bars, around which the rope is threaded. Also rappel rack, abseil rack.
  • rack (Noun)
    A climber's set of equipment for setting up protection and belays, consisting of runners, slings, karabiners, nuts, Friends, etc.
  • rack (Verb)
    To place in or hang on a rack.
  • rack (Verb)
    To torture someone on the rack.
  • rack (Verb)
    To cause someone to suffer pain.
  • rack (Verb)
    To stretch or strain; to harass, or oppress by extortion.
  • rack (Verb)
    To put the balls into the triangular rack and set them in place on the table.
  • rack (Verb)
    To strike a male in the groin with the knee.
  • rack (Verb)
    To manually load a round of ammunition from the magazine or belt into firing position in an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.
  • rack (Verb)
    To wash metals, ore, etc. on a rack.
  • rack (Verb)
    To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.
  • rack (Verb)
    stretch joints of a person.
  • rack (Verb)
    To fly, as vapour or broken clouds.
  • rack (Verb)
    To clarify, and thereby deter further fermentation of, beer, wine or cider by draining or siphoning it from the dregs.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

  • rack (n.)
    Same as Arrack.
  • rack (n.)
    The neck and spine of a fore quarter of veal or mutton.
  • rack (n.)
    A wreck; destruction.
  • rack (n.)
    Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapor in the sky.
  • rack (v. i.)
    To fly, as vapor or broken clouds.
  • rack (v.)
    To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the body; to pace; -- said of a horse.
  • rack (n.)
    A fast amble.
  • rack (v. t.)
    To draw off from the lees or sediment, as wine.
  • rack (a.)
    An instrument or frame used for stretching, extending, retaining, or displaying, something.
  • rack (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.
  • rack (a.)
    An instrument for bending a bow.
  • rack (a.)
    A grate on which bacon is laid.
  • rack (a.)
    A frame or device of various construction for holding, and preventing the waste of, hay, grain, etc., supplied to beasts.
  • rack (a.)
    A frame on which articles are deposited for keeping or arranged for display; as, a clothes rack; a bottle rack, etc.
  • rack (a.)
    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.
  • rack (a.)
    A frame or table on which ores are separated or washed.
  • rack (a.)
    A frame fitted to a wagon for carrying hay, straw, or grain on the stalk, or other bulky loads.
  • rack (a.)
    A distaff.
  • rack (a.)
    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.
  • rack (a.)
    That which is extorted; exaction.
  • rack (v. t.)
    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.
  • rack (v. t.)
    To torment; to torture; to affect with extreme pain or anguish.
  • rack (v. t.)
    To stretch or strain, in a figurative sense; hence, to harass, or oppress by extortion.
  • rack (v. t.)
    To wash on a rack, as metals or ore.
  • rack (v. t.)
    To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.

Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕

  • rack
    rak, n. an instrument for racking or extending: an engine for stretching the body in order to extort a confession, hence (fig.) extreme pain, anxiety, or doubt: a framework on which articles are arranged, as hat-rack, plate-rack, letter-rack, &c.: the grating above a manger for hay: (mech.) a straight bar with teeth to work into those of a wheel, pinion, or endless screw, for converting a circular into a rectilinear motion, or vice versâ: (Scot.) the course in curling.—v.t. to stretch forcibly: to strain: to stretch on the rack or wheel: to torture: to exhaust: to worry, agitate: to wrest, overstrain: to practise rapacity: to extort: to place in a rack or frame: (naut.) to seize together with cross-turns, as two ropes.—n. Rack′er, one who tortures.—adj. Rack′ing, tormenting.—ns. Rack′-rail, a railway having cogs which work into similar cogs on a locomotive; Rack′-rent, an annual rent stretched to the utmost value of the thing rented, exorbitant rent.—v.t. to subject to such rents.—ns. Rack′-rent′er, one who exacts or pays rack-rent; Rack′-stick, a stick for stretching a rope; Rack′-tail, a bent arm in a repeating clock connected with the striking mechanism; Rack′work, a strong bar with cogs to correspond with similar cogs on a wheel, which either moves or is moved by the bar.—Live at rack and manger, to live sumptuously and wastefully; On the rack, stretched upon it: tortured by anxiety; Put to the rack, to put to the torture of the rack: to subject to keen suffering. [The radical sense is to stretch, closely allied to reach (q.v.); cf. Ice. rakkr, straight, Ger. rack, a rail, recken, to stretch.]
  • rack
    rak, n. same as Wrack=Wreck—now used only in the phrases Go to rack, Go to rack and ruin. [Cf. the next word.]
  • rack
    rak, n. thin or broken clouds drifting across the sky.—v.i. to drift, to drive. [Wrack; cf. Ice. rek.]
  • rack
    rak, v.t. to strain or draw off from the lees, as wine.—ns. Rack′ing-can, a vessel from which wine can be drawn without disturbing the lees; Rack′ing-cock, -fau′cet, a cock used in drawing off liquour from a cask; Rack′ing-pump, a pump for the transfer of liquor to casks. [O. Fr. raquer, vin raqué; prob. cog. with Sp. rascar, to scrape.]
  • rack
    rak, n. (prov.) the neck and spine of a fore-quarter of veal or mutton: the neck of mutton or pork
  • rack
    rak, n. the gait of a horse between a trot and a gallop.—n. Rack′er, a horse that moves in this gait. [Perh. rack, to drift, or rock.]
  • rack
    rak, n. same as Arrack.—Rack punch, a punch made with arrack
  • rack
    rak, n. a young rabbit. [Orig. unknown.]

Marine DictionaryUniversal Dictionary of the Marine ⚓️

  • rack
    rasteau, a frame of timber, containing several sheaves, and usually fixed on the opposite sides of a ship’s bow-sprit, to direct the sailors to the respective ropes passing through it, all of which are attached to the sails on the bowsprit.

    In page 4. of the article RATE, line 14. for without, read to avoid.

    After the article RIDING, read, a rope is said to ride, when one of the turns by which it is wound about the capstern or windlass lies over another, so as to interrupt the operation of heaving.

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book

  • rack
    The superior stratum of clouds, or that moving rapidly above the scud. The line in which the clouds are driven by the wind, is called the rack of the weather. In Shakspeare's beautiful thirty-third sonnet the sun rises in splendour, but-- "Anon permits the basest clouds to ride With ugly rack on his celestial face, And from the forlorn world his visage hide, Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace."

Part of speech

🔤
  • rack, verb, present, 1st person singular of rack (infinitive).
  • rack, verb (infinitive).
  • rack, noun, singular of racks.

Pronunciation

Word frequency

Racks is...

40% Complete
Very rare
Rare
Normal
Common
Very Common
33% Complete
Rare
Normal
Common

Sign Language

racks in sign language
Sign language - letter R Sign language - letter R Sign language - letter A Sign language - letter A Sign language - letter C Sign language - letter C Sign language - letter K Sign language - letter K Sign language - letter S Sign language - letter S

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