(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Note: The spelling 'w~' is also used, mainly for meanings 2 and 3, and mainly in old-fashioned or American English.
1.
A ~ is a frame or shelf, usually with bars or hooks, that is used for holding things or for hanging things on.
My rucksack was too big for the luggage ~...
N-COUNT: oft supp N
see also roof ~ , toast ~
2.
If someone is ~ed by something such as illness or anxiety, it causes them great suffering or pain.
His already infirm body was ~ed by high fever...
...a teenager ~ed with guilt and anxiety.
VERB: usu passive, be V-ed by/with n, V-ed
see also ~ing
3.
If you ~ your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
She began to ~ her brains to remember what had happened at the nursing home.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
4.
If you say that someone is on the ~, you mean that they are suffering either physically or mentally. (JOURNALISM)
Only a year ago, he was on the ~ with a heroin addiction that began when he was 13.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v
5.
If you say that a place is going to ~ and ruin, you are emphasizing that it is slowly becoming less attractive or less pleasant because no-one is bothering to look after it.
PHRASE: V inflects emphasis
6.
Off-the-~ clothes or goods are made in large numbers, rather than being made specially for a particular person. (AM; in BRIT, use off-the-peg )
...the same off-the-~ dress she’s been wearing since the night before...
PHRASE: PHR n, PHR after v