rack

[[t]ræ̱k[/t]]

racks, racking, racked

(The spelling wrack is also used, mainly for meanings 2 and 3, and mainly in old-fashioned or American English.)

1) N-COUNT: oft supp N A rack is a frame or shelf, usually with bars or hooks, that is used for holding things or for hanging things on.

→ See also , toast rack

A luggage rack, which fits over the spare wheel, is a sensible option...

You have to fight to reach the racks of clothes but the bargains are amazing.

2) VERB: usu passive If someone is racked by something such as illness or anxiety, it causes them great suffering or pain.

→ See also racking

[be V-ed by/with n] His already infirm body was racked by high fever...

[be V-ed by/with n] The country is now racked by three violent separatist movements.

[V-ed] ...a teenager racked with guilt and anxiety.

3) PHRASE: V and N inflect If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.

She began to rack her brains to remember what had happened at the nursing home.

4) PHRASE: usu PHR after v If you say that someone is on the rack, you mean that they are suffering either physically or mentally. [JOURNALISM]

Only a year ago, he was on the rack with a heroin addiction that began when he was 13.

5) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that a place is going to rack and ruin, you are emphasizing that it is slowly becoming less attractive or less pleasant because no-one is bothering to look after it.

6) PHRASE: PHR n, PHR after v Off-the-rack clothes or goods are made in large numbers, rather than being made specially for a particular person. [AM]

...the same off-the-rack dress she's been wearing since the night before...

For our clothes, we went to a shop on Hollywood Boulevard, and we just picked it all off the rack.

Phrasal Verbs:

- rack up

(in BRIT, use off-the-peg)