# rack

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹæk/ · frequency rank #8,336

## Definitions
1. A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other.
2. Any of various kinds of frame for holding luggage or other objects on a vehicle or vessel.
3. A device, incorporating a ratchet, used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.
4. A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes.
5. A bunk.
6. 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.
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.
13. A bone of a horse.
14. A hollow triangle used for aligning the balls at the start of a game.
15. A plastic tray used for holding and moving chips.
16. A woman's breasts.
17. A friction device for abseiling, consisting of a frame with five or more metal bars, around which the rope is threaded.
18. A climber's set of equipment for setting up protection and belays, consisting of runners, slings, carabiners, nuts, Friends, etc.
19. A grate on which bacon is laid.
20. A set with a distributive binary operation whose action on the set is invertible.
21. A thousand dollars, especially if the proceeds are from a crime.

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

## Easily confused with
- **RC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rc)
- **ran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-ran)
- **ray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-ray)
- **raw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-raw)
- **RAM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-ram)
- **rat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rat)
- **rap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rap)
- **RAF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-raf)
- **rec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rec)
- **rag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rag)
- **raj** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-raj)
- **rad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rad)
- **Rae** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rae)
- **roc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-roc)
- **Rao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rao)
- **ras** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-ras)
- **rah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rah)
- **RNC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rnc)
- **RBC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rbc)
- **rav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rack-vs-rav)

## Common misspellings (6)
`arck`, `racck`, `rackk`, `rakc`, `rcak`, `rrack`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/rack