Meaning

25 senses
  1. A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.

    Regal

    этаже́ркаetažérka, стелла́жstelláž, по́лкаpólka

  2. Any of various kinds of frame for holding luggage or other objects on a vehicle or vessel.

    ве́шалкаvéšalka

    a support for displaying or holding various articles

  3. (historical)A device, incorporating a ratchet, used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.

    Streckbank

    ды́баdýba

  4. A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes.

  5. (especially, slang)A bunk.

  6. (broadly, slang, uncountable)Sleep.

  7. A distaff.

  8. A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with those of a gearwheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive or be driven by it.

    Holonym: rack and pinion

  9. A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with a pawl as a ratchet allowing movement in one direction only, used for example in a handbrake or crossbow.

  10. A cranequin, a mechanism including a rack, pinion and pawl, providing both mechanical advantage and a ratchet, used to bend and cock a crossbow.

  11. A set of antlers (as on deer, moose or elk).

  12. A cut of meat involving several adjacent ribs.

    I bought a rack of lamb at the butcher's yesterday.

Examples

227 sentences
  1. That car has a roof rack.

    ruУ той машины есть багажник на крыше.

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  2. I racked my brains for an answer.

    ruЯ ломал голову в поисках ответа.

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  3. Tom locked his bike to the bike rack.

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  4. Tom buys all his clothes right off the rack.

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  5. Tom bought a new towel rack for the kitchen.

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Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 3
series of shelves:
frame for hanging objects:
torture device:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
series of shelves:
torture device:
woman's breasts:

Origin

From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekke

From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken.

From Middle English reken, from Old Norse reka (“to be drifted, tost”)

See rack (“that which stretches”), or rock (verb).

Uncertain. Perhaps a contraction of rabbock, an alteration ( + -ock) of rabbit.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: racks
Singularrack

uncountable

Synonyms

104 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • a rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately:single-foot
  • a support for displaying or holding various articles:stand
  • an instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims:wheel
  • the destruction or collapse of something:wrack

Word family

65 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
rack — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto