I. noun
also rack ˈrak
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wræc; akin to Old English wrecan to drive, drive out, punish — more at wreak
1. archaic
a. : punishment ; also : vengeance
b. : vengeful or hostile attack or persecution
2.
a. : disastrous and violent damage, defeat, or dislocation : ruin , downfall , destruction
times of wrack and misery — A.L.Kroeber
his few acres, heavily mortgaged and gone to wrack — Dixon Wecter
b. obsolete : a cause of ruin
c. dialect : something that has suffered wrack : something shattered or destroyed
d. : a vestigial remain of something destroyed
of the original simple scheme hardly a wrack remains — Nathan Isaacs
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English wrak, from Middle Dutch; akin to Old English wræc punishment, something driven by the sea
1.
a. : a wrecked ship
b. : a piece of wreckage
nosing his boat among wrack heaps to salvage piling that has come loose — R.J.Smith
c.
(1) : shipwreck 2
(2) : shipwreck 3
d. dialect : the violent destruction of a structure, machine, or vehicle
2.
a. : marine vegetation (as eelgrass or various seaweeds) ; especially : kelp — compare sea wrack
b. : any of various dried seaweeds used for coarse cordage, stuffing, or other purposes
c. : vegetable rubbish collected on water, cast on the shore, or piled in a field : weeds
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English wracken, from wrak shipwreck, wreckage
intransitive verb
obsolete : to become wrecked or ruined : undergo destruction
transitive verb
: to wreck beyond repair : utterly ruin : cause the destruction of
the wind may wrack a house that isn't adequately nailed — Design for Homes
Synonyms: see destroy
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: by alteration
: rack IV
a land wracked by domestic fears and uncertainty — Mark Gayn
tend to wrack or distort the car frame — Power
wracked with scurvy — Stuart Keate
depth charges wracked aft of them — R.O.Bowen
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: by alteration
: rack III
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: by alteration
: rack I 2a