rack
/ɹæk/
"rack" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rack” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,336. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #8,336
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rack · rack · English
rack · rank #8,336 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #8,336
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH ra
Nearest frequency peer: ra (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “rack”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- progression
progression
91,668 corpus weight
- Quinn
Quinn
91,667 corpus weight
- ra
ra
91,666 corpus weight
- rack
rack
91,665 corpus weight
- rebuild
rebuild
91,664 corpus weight
- rejection
rejection
91,662 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “rack” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rack |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹæk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #8,336 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rack” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around rack (IPA /ɹæk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,336 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 21 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for rack, with forms such as "arck", "racck", and "rackk". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RC", "ran", "ray", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken. The correct English form is rack, spelled R-A-C-K.
Definition
- 1A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.
- 2Any of various kinds of frame for holding luggage or other objects on a vehicle or vessel.
- 3A device, incorporating a ratchet, used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.
- 4A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes.
- 5A bunk.
- 6Sleep.
- 7A distaff.
- 8A 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.
- 9A 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.
- 10A cranequin, a mechanism including a rack, pinion and pawl, providing both mechanical advantage and a ratchet, used to bend and cock a crossbow.
- 11A set of antlers (as on deer, moose or elk).
- 12A cut of meat involving several adjacent ribs.
- 13A bone of a horse.
- 14A hollow triangle used for aligning the balls at the start of a game.
- 15A plastic tray used for holding and moving chips.
- 16A woman's breasts.
- 17A friction device for abseiling, consisting of a frame with five or more metal bars, around which the rope is threaded.
- 18A climber's set of equipment for setting up protection and belays, consisting of runners, slings, carabiners, nuts, Friends, etc.
- 19A grate on which bacon is laid.
- 20A set with a distributive binary operation whose action on the set is invertible.
- 21A thousand dollars, especially if the proceeds are from a crime.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rack appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack, / Where men enforced do speak anything.
During the troubles of the fifteenth century, a rack was introduced into the Tower, and was occasionally used under the plea of political necessity.
Etymology
From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- arck
- racck
- rackk
- rakc
- rcak
- rrack
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rack - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "rack"?
What does "rack" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rack", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.