wrack

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Related to wracks: racks up

wrack

damage or destruction: wrack and ruin
Not to be confused with:
rack – framework; spread out; torture: they put the prisoner on the rack
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

wrack 1

also rack  (răk)
n.
Destruction or ruin. Used chiefly in the phrase wrack and ruin.
[Middle English, from Old English wræc, punishment (influenced by Middle Dutch wrak, shipwreck).]

wrack 2

also rack  (răk)
n.
1.
a. Wreckage, especially of a ship cast ashore.
b. Chiefly British Violent destruction of a building or vehicle.
2.
a. Seaweed that has been cast ashore or dried.
b. Any of various brown algae, especially rockweed or kelp.
v. wracked, wrack·ing, wracks also racked or rack·ing or racks
v.tr.
To cause the ruin of; wreck.
v.intr.
To be wrecked.
[Middle English wrak, from Middle Dutch.]

wrack 3

 (răk)
tr.v. wracked, wrack·ing, wracks
Variant of rack1..
Idiom:
wrack (one's) brains/brain
To try hard to remember or think of something.
[Influenced by wrack.]

wrack 4

 (răk)
n.
Variant of rack3.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wrack

(ræk) or

rack

n
1. collapse or destruction (esp in the phrase wrack and ruin)
2. something destroyed or a remnant of such
vb
a variant spelling of rack1
[Old English wræc persecution, misery; related to Gothic wraka, Old Norse rāk. Compare wreck, wretch]
Usage: The use of the spelling wrack rather than rack in sentences such as she was wracked by grief or the country was wracked by civil war is very common but is thought by many people to be incorrect

wrack

(ræk)
n
1. (Plants) seaweed or other marine vegetation that is floating in the sea or has been cast ashore
2. (Plants) any of various seaweeds of the genus Fucus, such as F. serratus (serrated wrack)
3. literary or dialect
a. a wreck or piece of wreckage
b. a remnant or fragment of something destroyed
[C14 (in the sense: a wrecked ship, wreckage, hence later applied to marine vegetation washed ashore): perhaps from Middle Dutch wrak wreckage; the term corresponds to Old English wræc wrack1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wrack1

(ræk)

n.
1. damage or destruction: wrack and ruin.
2. wreck or wreckage.
3. a trace of something destroyed: leaving not a wrack behind.
4. seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.
v.t.
5. to wreck: He wracked the car up on the river road.
[before 900; Middle English wrak (n.), Old English wræc vengeance, misery, akin to wracu vengeance, misery, wrecan to wreak]

wrack2

(ræk)

n., v.i.
rack 4.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

wrack


Past participle: wracked
Gerund: wracking

Imperative
wrack
wrack
Present
I wrack
you wrack
he/she/it wracks
we wrack
you wrack
they wrack
Preterite
I wracked
you wracked
he/she/it wracked
we wracked
you wracked
they wracked
Present Continuous
I am wracking
you are wracking
he/she/it is wracking
we are wracking
you are wracking
they are wracking
Present Perfect
I have wracked
you have wracked
he/she/it has wracked
we have wracked
you have wracked
they have wracked
Past Continuous
I was wracking
you were wracking
he/she/it was wracking
we were wracking
you were wracking
they were wracking
Past Perfect
I had wracked
you had wracked
he/she/it had wracked
we had wracked
you had wracked
they had wracked
Future
I will wrack
you will wrack
he/she/it will wrack
we will wrack
you will wrack
they will wrack
Future Perfect
I will have wracked
you will have wracked
he/she/it will have wracked
we will have wracked
you will have wracked
they will have wracked
Future Continuous
I will be wracking
you will be wracking
he/she/it will be wracking
we will be wracking
you will be wracking
they will be wracking
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been wracking
you have been wracking
he/she/it has been wracking
we have been wracking
you have been wracking
they have been wracking
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been wracking
you will have been wracking
he/she/it will have been wracking
we will have been wracking
you will have been wracking
they will have been wracking
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been wracking
you had been wracking
he/she/it had been wracking
we had been wracking
you had been wracking
they had been wracking
Conditional
I would wrack
you would wrack
he/she/it would wrack
we would wrack
you would wrack
they would wrack
Past Conditional
I would have wracked
you would have wracked
he/she/it would have wracked
we would have wracked
you would have wracked
they would have wracked
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.wrack - dried seaweed especially that cast ashore
seaweed - plant growing in the sea, especially marine algae
2.wrack - the destruction or collapse of something; "wrack and ruin"
rack
demolition, wipeout, destruction - an event (or the result of an event) that completely destroys something
3.wrack - growth of marine vegetation especially of the large forms such as rockweeds and kelp
sea wrack
seaweed - plant growing in the sea, especially marine algae
Verb1.wrack - smash or break forcefully; "The kid busted up the car"
bust up, wreck
ruin, destroy - destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

wrack 1

noun
The act of destroying or state of being destroyed:
bane, destruction, devastation, havoc, ruin, ruination, undoing, wreck, wreckage.

wrack 2

noun
The remains of something destroyed, disintegrated, or decayed:
debris, rubble, ruin, wreck, wreckage.
verb
To cause the complete ruin or wreckage of:
bankrupt, break down, cross up, demolish, destroy, finish, ruin, shatter, sink, smash, spoil, torpedo, undo, wash up, wreck.
Slang: total.
Idiom: put the kibosh on.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

wrack

3 [ræk] N (Bot) → fuco m, alga f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wrack

1
n (Bot) → Tang m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
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References in classic literature ?
The library doors were shut, and I closed the secret one behind me before opening the other and peering out through a wrack of bluish smoke; and there lay Captain Harris, sure enough, breathing his last in the arms of one constable, while another was seated on the table with a very wry face, twisting a tourniquet round his arm, from which the blood was dripping like raindrops from the eaves.
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It was a wild, cold, seasonable night of March, with a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted her, and flying wrack of the most diaphanous and lawny texture.
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The second night after the drowning of the mate the little yacht was suddenly wracked from stem to stern.
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I heard the wrack, As earth and sky would mingle; but myself Was distant; and these flaws, though mortals fear them, As dangerous to the pillared frame of Heaven, Or to the Earth's dark basis underneath, Are to the main as inconsiderable And harmless, if not wholesome, as a sneeze To man's less universe, and soon are gone.
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I think that we should have succeeded, even though the ship was wracked from stem to stern by the terrific buffetings she received, and though she were half submerged the greater part of the time, had no further accident befallen us.
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