rackingn.¹

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Forms: see rack v.¹ and -ing suffix¹.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack n.³, -ing suffix¹; rack v.¹, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: Partly < rack n.³ + -ing suffix¹, and partly < rack v.¹ + -ing suffix¹ (although the latter is first attested slightly later).In sense 1d after rack-lashing n.

a. The action of stretching cloth, etc., on a rack, tenter, or other frame. Also in extended use. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > stretching

racking1406

tentering1483

1406 in F. B. Bickley Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 76 (MED) Disceites queux diuersez gentz..facent sibien en fuller des draps come en pleityng et rekkyng.

1463–4 Rolls of Parl. V. 501/1 That every hole Wollen Cloth called brode Cloth..after almanere rakkyng, streynyng, or teyntyng therof..conteigne in lengh xxiiii yerdes.

1701 C. Cooper Vail turn'd Aside 113 For many endur'd Sundry kinds of Torments, often Racking and Dismembring of their Joints.

1764 Session Papers in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. at Rack The next part of the Waulker-mistery consists in the tenting, racking, pressing, and sheering of the cloth.

1845 M. M. Noah Gleanings 15 Then commences the herculean task of corsetting, racking, bracing and bending.

b. Torturing or being tortured on the rack; torment comparable with that suffered on the rack; an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > torture > [noun] > by the rack

rackinga1513

stretching-torture1599

tympanism1661

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cxxiiij^v Dyuerse tourmentes, as rakkynge, heddynge, & hangynge.

1539 R. Morison Invective ayenste Treason sig. E vi^v He had no outwarde tormentis, no racking, no manicles, no he was put in fere of none of al these peines.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxxiiij All racking and torture, that exceadeth a meane, is vncerten and perillous.

1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. F4 His Bones, and Ioynts..With Rackings, quite disloked, and distracted.

1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron II. viii. vi. f. 72^v To fall into his wives tempestuous stormes of chiding, would bee worse to him then racking or torturing.

1652 E. Benlowes Theophila 117 There, curs'd Oppressors dreadful Rackings feel!

1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (xi. 36) iii. 221 If racking, if scourging..be reall persecutions, then were theirs reall.

1676 London Gaz. No. 1083/1 Certain Instruments..made use of for the wracking of Criminals.

1701 C. Wilson Serm. against Prophane Swearing 15 The frequent swearer cannot have any just Ideas of the Prickings, and Woundings, and Rackings of a good Man's Mind, when he hears the Name of God so profan'd.

1726 C. D'Anvers Craftsman No. 39 (1727) 370 The violent rackings and corrosions of a vulnerated conscience.

1732 D. Neal Hist. Puritans I. 429 He had condemned racking for grievous offenders, as contrary to Law.

1779 F. Burney Let. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) 327 Why if I must marry,—if I was bid chuse between that & racking on the Wheel,—I believe I should go to her.

1803 W. Blake I saw a Monk ii Voltaire [arose] with a wracking wheel.

1848 E. Bennett Renegade x. 76 How much anguish of heart, how much racking of soul and how much bodily suffering was to be their portion, ere death..would set them free?

1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. II. v. 74 Noblemen were exempt, the vulgar thought, From racking.

1902 M. S. Cutting Little Stories Married Life 52 Agnes listened to his receding footsteps, a warm comfort in her heart despite that racking of the bones.

1924 Peabody Jrnl. Educ. 1 286 Several American physicians used ether to relieve asthma and the rackings of consumption in its last-quarter gallop.

1951 Times 17 May 5/4 He could not endure those rackings of stiffness and soreness and sleepiness.

1997 J. Walsh 40 Martyrs Eng. & Wales 15 A notorious spy, George Eliot, betrayed him, and after two severe rackings in the Tower he was tried.

c. The raising (of rents) to an excessive level; oppressing (the poor) in this manner; an instance of this. Also with up. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1581 Compendious Exam. Certayne Ordinary Complaints iii. f. 44^v This racking and hoyssinge vp of rentes.

1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements 390 A notorious and renowmed tyrant, not only in regard of his exceeding cruelty, but also of his vniust rackings and exactions.

1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 186 Ruines his soule, and ads vnto the store, Of his accounts, by racking of the pore.

1630 G. Hakewill Apologie (ed. 2) iv. xiv. 522 By vnconscionable racking of rents and wresting from them excessiue fines.

1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana 217 Racking of Rents is a vile thing in the richer sort, an uncharitable one to the poorer; a mark of slavery, and nips your Common-wealth in the fairest Blossom.

a1680 T. Shipman Carolina (1683) 102 Nor did his vast Revenues rise From Rackings, worst of Tyrannies.

1690 J. Child Disc. Trade i. 17 The racking up of Rents in the Years 1651. and 1652.

1833 Times 11 Dec. 4/3 The real pressure upon Ireland is the ruthless racking of the peasantry.

1940 Eng. Hist. Rev. 55 223 Racking of rents, raising fines, enclosure..had the effect of screwing more revenue out of the land.

1952 Past & Present 2 34 Others, driven below the poverty-line by loss of common lands, racking of rents, and the general rise in prices..had to abandon their holdings.

1974 Times 17 Sept. 15/6 We bleat equality, while our budgets..often necessitate the racking of rents.

†d. The action of pulling tight or making fast by rack-lashings. Also with down. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [noun] > method of fixing securely > specific

racking1853

1853 H. Douglas Ess. Mil. Bridges (ed. 3) iii. 170 The oars and poles were used as ribands for racking.

1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Racking-down, an operation performed with the aid of rack-lashing in laying a gun or mortar platform.

2. figurative. Extending (the intellect, the understanding, etc.), or straining (meaning, credulity, etc.); an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [noun]

wrestingc1444

pervertinga1450

corruptiona1513

straining1528

writhing?1532

hacking1539

violence1546

racking1556

wrying1562

wringing1565

detorting1579

wrest1581

detortion1598

wrench1603

torture1605

distorting1610

violencing1612

refraction1614

misacception1629

distortion1650

distorture1709

misacceptation1721

torturing1753

verbicide1826

stretch1849

twisting1890

queeringness1955

1556 N. Ridley Certen Conf. Rydley & Latymer sig. B8 Their racking, wrything, wringing, and monstrously iniurieng of goddes holy scripture.

1560 W. Baldwin Funeralles Edward VI sig. C1^v Repent you false lawiers your racking and strayning To make all lawes serve to your gredy gayning.

1564 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge xiii. f. 144 It can not be drawen, nor by racking can be stretched to any other sense.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1751/2 Thys grieuous racking and extending of this worde Procurement.

1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity xx. 75 Christianity may be made very uneasie and uncomfortable by several rackings and distractings of the Mind.

1749 B. Franklin Proposals rel. Educ. Youth in Papers (1961) III. 408 Themes and Verses in Latin..were so constantly every where pressed, to the Racking of Childrens Inventions beyond their Strength.

1764 C. Churchill Gotham ii. 2 The daily, nightly racking of the brains, To range the thoughts.

1804 Times 19 Jan. 3/3 From Jacobi's sweet strains, With much racking of brains, When at last I had made a translation.

1864 M. S. Cummins Haunted Hearts xxii. 346 Perceiving that the racking of his memory was costing him fruitless efforts, she said... ‘You will know me when I tell you who I am.’

1889 B. Bosanquet Ess. & Addr. v. 92 The Infinite, the supra-sensuous, the Divine, are..connected in our minds with futile rackings of the imagination about remote matters which only distract us from our duties.

1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 66 His brain it's like a piece of machinery: it wont stand a whole lot of racking. It's best when it all runs along the same.

1946 New Eng. Q. 19 376 Examination..reveals nothing that could have occasioned great racking of brains.

1992 B. Elton Gridlock 242 Despite all this racking of the brain, no serious research has been done into the commonest and most radical ‘time bender’ of them all, which is..exercise.

3. The undergoing or causing of strain, distortion, dislocation, or convulsion (of a structure, frame, ship, human body, etc.); the result of this; spec. distortion of a structure under shear. Also: the action of subjecting a ship to lateral distortion with broadside gunfire.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [noun] > action or fact of putting or being out of shape > as result of strain

racking1739

collapsing1789

collapse1833

the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > shaking > violent shaking

concussion1490

succussion1622

conquassationa1632

concussation1645

succussation1649

squassation1731

racking1865

juddering1924

the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [noun] > action or fact of putting or being out of shape > as result of pressure or strain > under shear

racking1957

1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge 18 The Frames could move..without any Danger of racking or straining.

1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 128 That the Timber..be both firmly spliced and bolted together, to prevent their wrecking, swagging or dislocating.

1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §306 Nothing to oppose the racking of the frame.

1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby li. 507 Mrs Sliderskew..expressed her satisfaction by various rackings and twitchings of her head and body.

1865 A. L. Holley Treat. Ordnance & Armor §261 The obvious disadvantages of the 'racking' system, by means of heavy projectiles at low velocities, are loss of power and loss of time.

1868 Rep. Munitions War 267 The ‘Bellerophon’ could pass the forts at New York within 200 yards without suffering except by racking.

1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding ii. 23 This plan..has the important advantage of opposing the racking of the floor plates longitudinally.

1871 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 9 Mar. One cold will run into another, and a confirmed cough ensue, bringing on straining and racking of the lungs.

1886 Science 24 Sept. 273 The injury to the houses themselves is astonishingly light, and generally confined to racking of frames.

1919 Times 27 Oct. 18/5 The exclusive Three-Point Cantilever Springs..minimise the twisting and racking of frame and body.

1957 Internat. Affairs 33 262 The long rackings that led the American polity and economy to the Great Depression.

1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. II (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 149 Racking, in timber testing, the application of loads to an assembly, tending to deform it in shear.

1968 D. D. Gladwin & J. M. White Eng. Canals ii. ii. 28 With continual racking over inclines the boats became leaky.

1977 Engin. Materials & Design Aug. 17/1 A batch of fifty radiators made in this way have been subjected to tests against thermal shock cycling, pulsating pressure, vibration and racking.

1992 Farmers Weekly 14 Aug. 35/4 The Class 6 box—for stacking up to six high—should only be handled frequently if restrained from ‘racking’ or sideways distortion.

4. Intense pain. Cf. racking adj.² 2. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment

piningOE

anguishc1225

pinsing?c1225

tormentc1290

afflictiona1382

martyrdomc1384

tormentryc1386

labourc1390

martyryc1390

throea1393

martyre?a1400

cruelty14..

rack?a1425

hacheec1430

prong1440

agonya1450

ragea1450

pang1482

sowing1487

cruciation1496

afflict?1529

torture?c1550

pincha1566

anguishment1592

discruciament1593

excruciation1618

fellness1642

afflictedness1646

pungency1649

perialgia1848

perialgy1857

racking1896

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 680 Violent aching of the head..with racking in the bones.

1910 F. Arnold Text-bk. School & Class Managem. II. iv. 175 The symptoms of influenza are a violent aching of the head and eyeballs, pain in the back, racking in the bones, and a hard, dry, cough.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingn.²

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Forms: see rack v.² and -ing suffix¹.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.², -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < rack v.² + -ing suffix¹.

The action or process of drawing off wine, etc., from the lees; an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [noun] > racking off

rackingc1475

c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 74 (MED) The rackinge, coynynge, rebatinge, and other salvations of wynes.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §305 It is in common Practise, to draw Wine, or Beere, from the Lees, (which we call Racking).

1669 C. Merret Some Observ. conc. ordering Wines in W. Charleton Two Disc. 206 The usual times for Racking, are Midsommer and Alhallontide.

1736 Compl. Family-piece i. v. 187 Often racking it off is the best Way to fine it, and always rack it into small Vessels... If it should work after racking, put into your Vessel some Raisins.

1783 B. J. Bromwich Experienced Bee-keeper 59 If it does not become fine after the first racking, the operation should be repeated.

1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 164 Soon after the spring racking,..the casks may be gradually stopped.

1854 E. C. Evans tr. T. J. Pelouze & E. Frémy Gen. Notions of Chem. 366 The wine is racked off a second and a third time in January and February. The third racking is followed by a second clarification.

1885 Harper's Mag. Oct. 678 Shavings of beech or birch and ‘finings’ of isinglass are put in the cask, which take with them the last sediment, and the beer is now ready for racking.

1956 Times 9 Oct. 8/5 The adolescence of Champagne is not as that of other wines, a quiet waiting upon nature, interrupted only by occasional rackings.

1979 M. B. Quinion Drink for its Time (Mus. Cider, Hereford) 16 Some farmers tried to arrest fermentation by continual racking.

1997 Florida Times-Union (Nexis) 21 Dec. i1 In a pinch, you can forego racking and strain your brew into its penultimate home through wet cheesecloth or a paper coffee strainer.

Compounds

General attributive, as racking-can, racking-cellar, racking-cock, racking-engine, racking-pump, racking-shed, racking-tap, etc.

ΚΠ

1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. § 1318 The racking-can, tun-pail, dropping-bag, bottling-bench, and box for carrying bottles.

1846 W. L. Tizard Theory & Pract. Brewing (ed. 2) xx. 547 A more perfect racking-engine than such as are in ordinary use.

1846 W. L. Tizard Theory & Pract. Brewing (ed. 2) xx. 547 The racking tap,..is made long enough to project some few inches above the bottom of the vessel.

1851 DeBow's Rev. 10 27 The fire is now damped, and the crust removed by skimming; occasionally, however, the clear liquid is drawn off by a racking-cock from underneath.

1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 Aug. 3/1 The cask..is further cleaned with steam..before being allowed to roll off into the ‘racking shed’, where it is filled with porter.

1892 H. E. Wright Handy Bk. Brewers i. 42 Certain albumenoid bodies..consequently go out of solution in the cask itself, instead of being left behind in the fermenting or racking vessels.

1892 H. E. Wright Handy Bk. Brewers xiii. 503 Racking hose..and racking cocks of fermenting vessels require attention.

1911 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Daily Herald 27 Nov. 11/6 The racking cellar is equipped with one 6 arm and one 8 arm automatic racker and two filterers.

1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 30/2 Rack, to fill a cask or container with beer in a brewery, hence racking cock, racking machine. The term is also used for wines.

1978 T. Kinsella Coll. Poems (1996) 219 He brandished his solid body Thirty feet high above their heads therefore And with a shout of laughter Traversed a steel beam in the Racking Shed.

1979 T. Foster Dr. Foster's Bk. Beer ii. 27 At the end of fermentation the beer is run directly into the casks, sometimes via a second vessel known as a ‘racking back’.

1990 Friends of Wine Spring 29/2 The repeated racking operations and natural settling and clarifying should enable him to dispense with both fining and filtration.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingn.³

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Forms: see rack v.³ and -ing suffix¹.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.³, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < rack v.³ + -ing suffix¹.

Now chiefly U.S.

The action or fact of moving with a rack n.⁶; (also) the action of riding a horse in this gait.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > type(s) of gait > rack

racking1530

rack1566

racking pace1611

Canterbury rack1636

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 260/2 Rackyng of a horse in his pace, racquassure.

1607 G. Markham Cavelarice iv. 5 Taking his time keeping from trotting; and his motion of legges from ambling. and so compound this which is called a traine or racking.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Rules for buying Horses Racking..'tis the same Motion as Ambling, only it is a sweeter Time.

1818 J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. U.S. 51 Racking is a favourite ambling pace.

a1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) vi. 149 The band was proceeding at a smart rate, the horses moving with the gait peculiar to American animals, known as ‘pacing’ or ‘racking’.

1859 Herbert's Hints to Horse-keepers xvii. 280 Their attention is called to the superior advantages of that particular variety of gait called ‘Racking’.

1974 Marlboro Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, S. Carolina) 18 Apr. 10/3 In ladies racking, Sherry Jean Nolan..rode King to a first-place win.

1995 Roanoke (Virginia) Times & World News (Nexis) 13 July (Current section) 5 Joe Pack of Christiansburg, second in men's racking; third in show pleasure racking; fourth in style racking.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† rackingn.⁴

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁵, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < rack v.⁵ + -ing suffix¹.

Obsolete. rare.

The fact of being driven before the wind; an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impelling or driving > [noun] > propulsion > by air or current

racking1630

waftage1651

wafture1755

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > driving (of wind)

racking1630

1630 J. Taylor Wks. 102 With what greedy desire did many thousands..nayle their eye sights dayly vpon Fanes, Weather-cocks, the smoke of Chimneyes, and the Racking of the Cloudes.

1631 J. Mabbe tr. F. de Rojas Spanish Bawd Prol. sig. A6^v Those rackings to and fro of the Clouds.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2018).

† rackingn.⁵

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack n.⁹, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < rack n.⁹ + -ing suffix¹. Compare also wracking n. and adj. at wrack v.² Derivatives.Compare the discussion at wrack n.¹ of the difficulty of distinguishing between wrack n.¹ (and rack n.⁹) and wrack n.² in this period. With use in quot. ?1689 compare to go to rack and ruin at rack n.⁹ 1.

Obsolete. rare.

Wrecking, destruction.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > overthrow of a person, institution, belief, etc.

fallOE

confusionc1290

subversiona1325

overthrowingc1330

overturninga1398

downcasta1400

wrackc1400

downcastingc1425

eversionc1425

profligationc1475

demolitionc1550

overturec1555

wreck1577

overturnc1592

racking?1689

upsetting1827

subversal1843

demolishment1884

?1689 in Polit. Ballads (1860) II. 8 The Queen and Prince banisht for what none dares own, Unless for the racking and ruin o' the state.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2018).

rackingn.⁶

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Apparently formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: an element of unknown origin, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: Apparently < a first element of unknown origin + -ing suffix¹. Compare later rack v.⁶

Nautical.

1. A piece of spun yarn or other material used for binding ropes together (see rack v.⁶).

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > lashings, seizings, or securing ropes > a rope used for

stopper1636

lanyard1669

lasher1669

racking1704

selvage1711

selvagee1750

gilguy1833

tier1844

stop1846

selvage-stropc1860

1704 Athenian Oracle III. 130/2 In an Hours time the Rope drew through the Racking.

1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 143 Racking and Seizing for the Parrel.

1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 199 As the topmast is elevated the rackings are cut.

c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 34 It will greatly assist the spunyarn racking.

1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 116 Cast off the racking.

1908 Man. Seamanship I. iii. 105. To make the racking neater after passing the last roundabout turn, the end is taken outside all parts of the racking.

1985 P. Clissold Ansted's Dict. Sea Terms 225 Racking, the material (spun yarn or whatever may be used in its place) by which the ropes of a tackle are racked.

†2. The action of binding two ropes together with spun yarn or other material. Cf. later rack v.⁶ Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Racking, the fastening two opposite parts of a tackle together, so as that any weighty body suspended thereby, shall not fall down, although the rope..should be loosened by accident.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingn.⁷

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁴, -ing suffix¹; rack n.⁴, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: Partly < rack v.⁴ + -ing suffix¹, and partly < rack n.⁴ + -ing suffix¹.

a. The action of fitting something with, or placing objects in, a rack or racks.

ΚΠ

1821 Times 16 Oct. 1/3 A young man..possessed of a general knowledge of the wine coopering business, with bottling, packing, racking, clearing from the Docks.

1888 Daily News 18 July 2/6 Restitution of ‘pennies’ if the girls do their own racking.

1965 Punch 31 Mar. 474/1 The charge for encapsulation or racking [in a freezer cemetery] will be 4,300 dollars per body.

1984 J. Sutherland in Listener 21 June 10/2 Category fiction, or ‘genre’, is defined at the very end of the merchandising chain, by the sectional ‘racking’ that the bookseller gives it in his shop.

1999 E. M. Lawrence & T. C. Shaw Compl. Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards v. xviii. 230 The final thing to check in a rack of balls is whether the person who did the racking put certain balls in their proper places.

b. Shelving, usually that designed for storage purposes rather than for display; an example of this.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > stand > [noun] > shelf > collectively > functional and inexpensive

racking1857

1857 Times 21 Feb. 12/3 There would be in such a room a racking up and down the room on the walls.

1870 N.Y. Herald 5 Mar. (advt) 4/3 Fixtures for sale—Consisting of Shelving, Counters, Desks, Signs, Racking, &c.

1907 Indiana (Pa.) Democrat 13 Mar. An order to compel the railroads to provide permanent stakes and racking necessary to the use of flat cars for the hauling of lumber.

1937 G. Frankau More of Us viii. 91 While Art Department hummed like dynamo As frenzied hands tore pictures from their racking.

1956 Times 20 Nov. (advt.) 6/5 Whether for storage racking..or light shelving, the Dexion system provides a slotted angle exactly right for every purpose.

1976 Times 9 Dec. 20/2 The conventional way of doing this is to store the goods statically, in some form of shelving, or racking.

2003 Bath Chron. (Nexis) 6 Mar. 3 We can't put racking on the walls, so the racking we have been using..is not suitable for such an old building.

2. Mining. The washing of ore, esp. tin ore, on a rack. Now historical.

ΚΠ

1828 W. J. Henwood in Trans. Royal Geol. Soc. Cornwall (1832) 4 157 The contents..go through another operation, called..Framing or Racking.

1850 J. Weale Rudim. Dict. Terms Archit. iii. 366/1 Racking, in mining, a process of separating small ores from the earthy particles by means of an inclined wooden frame: the impurities being washed off.

1857 J. Scoffern et al. Useful Metals & their Alloys 575 In operating with the racking-table, the slimy ore, to the extent of twelve or fifteen pounds, is placed at the fixed head, and washed down over the hinge-board to the table.

2004 L. Mayers Balmaidens v. 82 The purest tin..was then barrowed to the frames, ready for racking, and the rest was either disposed of as waste or retrunked.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingn.⁸

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁷, -ing suffix¹.

Etymology: < rack v.⁷ + -ing suffix¹.

Bricklaying.

The process of building a wall by laying bricks in steps at the corner or end, to be added to and completed later; the resulting arrangement of bricks. Also racking back. Cf. raking n.³

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with brick > [noun] > methods of

nogging1434

bricks and mortar1576

brick nog1822

racking1869

dinging1873

repointing1901

1869 Mechanics' Mag. 4 June 398/1 The extrados of the arch of the culvert was left nearly smooth, without any offsets, steps, or ‘racking back’, to afford a firm hold of the puddle of the bank.

1894 C. F. Mitchell Building Constr. iii. 132 Racking is the term applied to the method of arranging the edge of a brick wall, part of which is unavoidably delayed while the remainder is carried up.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 437/1 The foundations must be spread below the column bases... This is accomplished by rackings of stone or brickwork.

1945 E. L. Braley Brickwork iii. 60 Racking back is the best method of executing this particular job, as by this means the bonding bricks can be perfectly bedded.

1994 Fine Homebuilding 5 Dec. 4/2 Running shingles vertically up the roof, or racking, does not nullify Celotex's warranty.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingadj.¹

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Forms: see rack v.³ and -ing suffix²; also 1500s rakkynge.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.³, -ing suffix².

Etymology: < rack v.³ + -ing suffix². Compare racking n.³ and later rack n.⁶

Of a horse: moving at a rack (rack n.⁶); accustomed to move at a rack. Also of a horse's gait or pace, and in extended use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [adjective] > ambling

amblanta1393

amblinga1393

ambuling1476

racking1532

pacing1597

steady1835

single-footeda1864

single-footing1890

trippling1901

1532 Sir George Lawson's New Year's Gift to Henry VIII (P.R.O. E 101/420/15) ij rakkynge geldings the one gray & the other a blakk baye.

1562 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 166 One old rackynge nagg.

1585 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 108 My rackinge blacke nagge.

1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies iii. 147 Some ride upon the racking Steeds of Treasure.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Staff. 41 He himself became a racking, but no thorough-paced Protestant.

1735 Sportsman's Dict. II. at Rules for buying horses Galloping is the last, and must be joined to all the other paces; and this every trotting and racking horse naturally does.

1796 J. Hunter Compl. Dict. Farriery & Horsemanship at Croup It is said of a horse, that it has a racking croup, when in walking he goes right with his fore quarters, but swings his croup from one side to the other.

1817 J. K. Paulding Lett. from South I. 103 I bought a new horse,—one of your capital racking ponies, as they are yclept.

1850 W. T. Moncrieff Orig. Coll. Songs 128 I've got the biggest ticker, And the toughest racking horse.

1888 R. Kipling Broken-link Handicap in Plain Tales from Hills 143 A long, racking high mare with..a drifty, glidy stretch.

1928 Sci. Monthly May 398 Sometimes when in a hurry he moved the arm and leg of the same side together, like the racking or pacing gait of a horse.

1940 Hayward (Calif.) Rev. 26 June 4/1 If you want a good ‘ambling’ horse for an easy ride, you had better take one that acquired the gait through inheritance, from a long line of racking stock.

1977 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Amer. 6 Mar. 22/1 The racking horse has been popular in the United states since Colonial times.

1999 Commerc. Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) (Nexis) 8 July gc3 Watching the racking horse compete is simply beautiful. In fact, when a horse is truly racking, you can sit in the saddle and count one, two, three, four as each foot hits the ground one at a time.

Compounds

racking pace n. = rack n.⁶; an easy, ambling pace.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > type(s) of gait > rack

racking1530

rack1566

racking pace1611

Canterbury rack1636

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Amble,..an ambling, or racking pace.

1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) xxviii. 134 There is also a third pace, which is neither nor amble, but is called a racking pace, that is to say, betweene an amble and trot.

1630 Tincker of Turvey 22 It was a pretty Tit then, the Beast has a racking pace still.

1676 London Gaz. 1138/4 Two Cart-Geldings,..a little racking-pace.

1678 E. R. Experienced Farrier i. 64 If you Elect for Buck-hunting, Galloping on the Highway Post, Hackney, or the like, then a racking Pace is required: and this Motion is the same that Ambling is, only it is in a swifter time.

1722 P. Dudley in Philos. Trans. 1720–21 (Royal Soc.) 31 167 A Moose..shoves along side-ways, throwing out the Feet, much like a Horse in a racking pace.

1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXIX. at Rack The racking pace is much the same as the amble.

1871 L. Colange Zell's Pop. Encycl. II. 703 Racker, A horse that moves with a racking pace.

1912 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 25 151 Yonder comes the surgeon in a racking pace!

1942 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 3 Sept. 12/3 This generation of women will have to curb their stride to the racking pace of the hobble skirt era.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingadj.²

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.¹, -ing suffix².

Etymology: < rack v.¹ + -ing suffix².

a. Exacting; extortionate; demanding rack rents. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > extortion > [adjective]

writhinga1529

torcenous1532

bloodsucking1548

racking1576

exacting1583

extorting1598

extortious1607

sharking1608

wringing1620

exactious1630

extortionizing1630

extortionable1632

extortioninga1641

extortionous1644

extortive1646

screwing1647

extracting1654

hirudinous1654

rack-renting1779

extortionate1789

extortionary1805

1576 G. Whetstone Castle of Delight in Rocke of Regard sig. k.iii Uile Usurie, his racking rents doth rake, As auditour, account doth Briberie take.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. i. sig. B2^v The court of affection, held by that racking steward, Remembraunce.

1636 D. Featley Clavis Mystica vii. 90 Hee layeth the blame on..racking Landlords.

1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions i. i. 16 Let those..learn to make no lesse conscience of a racking bargain.

1817 W. Scott Search after Happiness xvi Cursed war and racking tax Have left us scarcely raiment to our backs.

1956 S. H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily viii. 115 I also heard..the story of how a racking landlord was frightened out of his wits.

†b. Let at a rack rent. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

a1625 J. Fletcher Wit without Money (1639) i. sig. B4 Your racking pastures, that have eaten up as many singing Shepherds, and their issues, as Andeluria breedes.

2. Torturing, tormenting; causing intense pain or suffering.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > [adjective]

anguishous?c1225

wounding?c1225

asperc1374

derflya1400

rending?c1400

furiousc1405

fretting1413

piercingc1450

anguish1477

piquant1521

anguishing?1566

plaguing1566

asperous?1567

agonizing1570

tormenting1575

wringing1576

cutting1582

tormentous1583

tormentful1596

tormentuous1597

racking1598

torturous1600

lacerating1609

torturing1611

tearinga1616

heart-aching1620

breast-rending1625

crucifying1648

tormentative1654

martyring?a1656

tormentive1655

discruciating1658

cruciatory1660

anguishful1685

brain-racking1708

probing1749

agonized1793

anguished1803

harrowing1810

vulnerary1821

grinding1869

torturesome1889

wrenching1889

tortuous1922

the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > relating to agony or torment > causing agony or torment

sharpc1000

grievousc1290

smartc1300

fellc1330

unsufferablea1340

keena1375

poignantc1390

rending?c1400

furiousc1405

stoutc1425

unbearablec1449

agonizing1570

tormenting1575

cruciable1578

raging1590

tormentuous1597

pungent1598

racking1598

acute1615

wrenching1618

excruciating1664

grinding1681

excruciate1773

discruciating1788

unendurable1801

of bare sufferance1823

perialgic1893

1598 F. Rous Thule ii. sig. P 4 If in his confusion thou delite, Then torture it [sc. his heart] vpon a racking wheele.

1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. iii. sig. E4^v Crack not the sinewes of my patience With racking torment.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 481 Maladies Of gastly Spasm, or racking torture.

1693 W. Congreve tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xi. 231 The most racking Thought, which can intrude.

1701 W. Congreve Judgm. Paris 11 Far from thee be anxious care: And racking thoughts that vex the great.

1724 A. Z. in J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. i. xii. 28 In one of the most racking and cruel of his Fits..I happen'd to make him a Visit.

1748 D. Hume Philos. Ess. Human Understanding viii. 160 A Man, lying under the racking Pains of the Gout.

1798 W. Wordsworth Female Vagrant in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 77 Groans, that rage of racking famine spoke, Where looks inhuman dwelt on festering heaps!

1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. vi. 118 Getting up early for a journey, with a racking head-ache.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. iv. 106 My concealed and racking regrets for my broken idol and lost elysium.

1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere viii. 57 I had been kept awake by a most racking tooth-ache.

1926 N. Coward Easy Virtue i. 14 I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I woke with a racking headache.

1950 P. H. Love in H. Brickell O. Henry Prize Stories of 1951 (1951) 180 Looking at his sleeping face, she was washed with shame and racking love.

1977 V. Glendinning Elizabeth Bowen v. 74 Weekend guests, however racking emotionally, were not unduly taxing physically.

1998 Jrnl. Law & Relig. 13 278 Possibly the most common and compelling ground suggested for justifying assisted suicide is to relieve a patient of racking pain.

3. Causing strain; dislocating; convulsing; breaking under strain.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adjective] > putting out of shape

warping1598

perversive1693

distortive1823

deforming1870

racking1874

1815 R. B. Sheridan Let. 7 Dec. (1966) III. 240 This racking cough which seized me last saturday sennight..seems resolved to..carry me off.

1843 J. C. Frémont Rep. 17 Oct. in Exped. J. C. Frémont (1970) i. 545 Fragments of an altered siliceous slate..render the road racking to a carriage.

1874 S. J. P. Thearle Naval Archit. (new ed.) I. 118 Great racking strains are set up, tending to alter the relative positions of the beams to each other and to the ship's side.

1895 R. Kipling in Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Oct. 3/2 Spirits, goblins, and witch-people were moving about on the racking ice.

1925 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 21 Sept. (advt.) 21/5 Smoother performance adds years to the life of your Ford by saving it from the racking strain of knocking and pounding that soon wears out the engine.

1973 J. S. Foster Struct. & Fabric I. iv. 157/1 Resistance to racking distortion of the frame under working load is provided by the infill panels.

1990 M. Collins Rain Darling 7 Suddenly, Rain started coughing. Deep, racking coughs that sounded like they were pulling her chest apart, tearing up her insides.

Derivatives

ˈrackingly adv. in a racking or exhausting manner.

ΚΠ

1857 Chambers's Jrnl. 8 33 They will certainly become..monotonous by virtue of being so rackingly relevant.

1917 E. Ferber Fanny Herself xvii. 303 Even as she smiled a great lump came into her throat, and the bruise blurred before her eyes, and she was crying rackingly, relievedly, huddled there in her red plush corner.

1950 J. Hersey Wall vi. vi. 579 He had lost quite a bit of blood and was weak; but mainly he was depressed. Terribly, rackingly sad.

1997 J. Sherman & S. Shwartz Vulcan's Forge ix. 118 A thin woman coughed rackingly: silicosis or the equivalent, from all the dust.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingadj.³

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁵, -ing suffix².

Etymology: < rack v.⁵ + -ing suffix².

Chiefly poetic. Now rare.

1. Of a cloud: driven before the wind.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [adjective] > driven before the wind

racking1590

scud1860

1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. I8 Draw My chariot swifter than the racking cloudes.

1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 ii. i. 27 Three glorious suns, not seperated by a racking Cloud.

1614 C. Brooke Ghost Richard III sig. F1 Like Racking clouds the people flock, and runne, With pitchie Breathes, t' obscure my rising Sonne.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 307 Drives the racking Clouds along the liquid Space.

1731 J. Trapp tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. III. 392 Where-e'er the Wind exerts It's Force, the Clouds fly racking thro' the Air.

a1747 L. Welsted tr. Horace Odes iv. ii, in Wks. (1787) 80 When the Dircæan Swan prepares to fly, A depth of air, Antonius, bears him high, Above the racking clouds.

1808 W. Scott Marmion iii. xxii. 155 Of middle air the demons proud, Who ride upon the racking cloud.

a1864 J. Clare Later Poems (1984) II. 693 The swift racking clouds o'er the heavens are breaking.

1900 G. H. Temple Epic of Columbus' Bell & Other Poems 39 When yon sun..slopes adown the Western blue, To paint the racking clouds a various hue.

2. Of a wind or storm: whirling, buffeting; carrying things along.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > impelling or driving > specifically of winds

drivingc1325

racking1667

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > relating to action of wind-currents > driving

racking1667

waftya1874

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 182 The sport and prey Of racking whirlwinds.

1749 T. Newton Milton's Paradise Lost ii. 182 We perhaps..shall be hurl'd Each on his rock transfix'd, the sport and prey Of wracking whirlwinds.

1822 G. Darley Errors of Ecstasie 7 A violent and racking storm.

1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iii. 152 The racking winds..whirl them away again.

1897 J. B. Tabb Lyrics 40 Why is it, that, unruffled still, The welkin's brow I see, While mine, with racking wind and tide, Deep-furrowed oft must be?

a1972 C. Day Lewis Poems, 1925–72 (1977) 300 Through the window I see your elms In labour with the racking storm.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rackingadj.⁴

Brit.

/ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S.

/ˈrækɪŋ/

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁶, -ing suffix².

Etymology: Either < rack v.⁶ (although this is first attested slightly later) + -ing suffix², or < rack- (in racking n.⁶) + -ing suffix².

Originally Nautical.

Esp. of a knot: that fastens something together by racking (see rack v.⁶). Chiefly in racking bend, racking hitch, racking seizing, racking turn.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [adjective] > fastening ropes together

racking1831

1831 T. O'Scanlon Diccionario Marítimo Español Hitch (Racking).

1847 W. N. Brady Kedge-anchor (ed. 2) ix. 264 The lashing should be passed on both, with racking turns, hove taut by a Spanish windlass.

1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Secure..reef-pendant to boom with a racking or rolling hitch.

1908 Man. Seamanship I. iii. 99 The remaining turns are passed as racking turns.

1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 136/2 Racking Seizing, small stuff passed around two ropes or spars in an over and under figure-of-eight fashion.

1962 G. Danton Theory & Pract. Seamanship xvi. 426 The Racking Seizing is more complex. It is started in the same way,..but figure-of-eight turns are taken.

1968 E. Franklin Dict. Knots 23 When two ropes of widely different thicknesses have to be bent together, the conventional bends are virtually useless. The Racking Bend, however, serves the purpose excellently.

2004 Operative Techniques in Sports Med. 12 53 The No. 5 FiberWire is tied over anterior and lateral borders of the clavicle with a racking hitch.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹1406

n.²c1475

n.³1530

n.⁴1630

n.⁵?1689

n.⁶1704

n.⁷1821

n.⁸1869

adj.¹1532

adj.²1576

adj.³1590

adj.⁴1831

单词	racking
释义	rackingn.¹ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Forms: see rack v.¹ and -ing suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack n.³, -ing suffix¹; rack v.¹, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: Partly < rack n.³ + -ing suffix¹, and partly < rack v.¹ + -ing suffix¹ (although the latter is first attested slightly later).In sense 1d after rack-lashing n. 1. a. The action of stretching cloth, etc., on a rack, tenter, or other frame. Also in extended use. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > stretching racking1406 tentering1483 1406 in F. B. Bickley Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 76 (MED) Disceites queux diuersez gentz..facent sibien en fuller des draps come en pleityng et rekkyng. 1463–4 Rolls of Parl. V. 501/1 That every hole Wollen Cloth called brode Cloth..after almanere rakkyng, streynyng, or teyntyng therof..conteigne in lengh xxiiii yerdes. 1701 C. Cooper Vail turn'd Aside 113 For many endur'd Sundry kinds of Torments, often Racking and Dismembring of their Joints. 1764 Session Papers in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. at Rack The next part of the Waulker-mistery consists in the tenting, racking, pressing, and sheering of the cloth. 1845 M. M. Noah Gleanings 15 Then commences the herculean task of corsetting, racking, bracing and bending. b. Torturing or being tortured on the rack; torment comparable with that suffered on the rack; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > torture > [noun] > by the rack rackinga1513 stretching-torture1599 tympanism1661 a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. cxxiiij^v Dyuerse tourmentes, as rakkynge, heddynge, & hangynge. 1539 R. Morison Invective ayenste Treason sig. E vi^v He had no outwarde tormentis, no racking, no manicles, no he was put in fere of none of al these peines. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxxiiij All racking and torture, that exceadeth a meane, is vncerten and perillous. 1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. F4 His Bones, and Ioynts..With Rackings, quite disloked, and distracted. 1620 tr. G. Boccaccio Decameron II. viii. vi. f. 72^v To fall into his wives tempestuous stormes of chiding, would bee worse to him then racking or torturing. 1652 E. Benlowes Theophila 117 There, curs'd Oppressors dreadful Rackings feel! 1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (xi. 36) iii. 221 If racking, if scourging..be reall persecutions, then were theirs reall. 1676 London Gaz. No. 1083/1 Certain Instruments..made use of for the wracking of Criminals. 1701 C. Wilson Serm. against Prophane Swearing 15 The frequent swearer cannot have any just Ideas of the Prickings, and Woundings, and Rackings of a good Man's Mind, when he hears the Name of God so profan'd. 1726 C. D'Anvers Craftsman No. 39 (1727) 370 The violent rackings and corrosions of a vulnerated conscience. 1732 D. Neal Hist. Puritans I. 429 He had condemned racking for grievous offenders, as contrary to Law. 1779 F. Burney Let. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) 327 Why if I must marry,—if I was bid chuse between that & racking on the Wheel,—I believe I should go to her. 1803 W. Blake I saw a Monk ii Voltaire [arose] with a wracking wheel. 1848 E. Bennett Renegade x. 76 How much anguish of heart, how much racking of soul and how much bodily suffering was to be their portion, ere death..would set them free? 1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. II. v. 74 Noblemen were exempt, the vulgar thought, From racking. 1902 M. S. Cutting Little Stories Married Life 52 Agnes listened to his receding footsteps, a warm comfort in her heart despite that racking of the bones. 1924 Peabody Jrnl. Educ. 1 286 Several American physicians used ether to relieve asthma and the rackings of consumption in its last-quarter gallop. 1951 Times 17 May 5/4 He could not endure those rackings of stiffness and soreness and sleepiness. 1997 J. Walsh 40 Martyrs Eng. & Wales 15 A notorious spy, George Eliot, betrayed him, and after two severe rackings in the Tower he was tried. c. The raising (of rents) to an excessive level; oppressing (the poor) in this manner; an instance of this. Also with up. Now rare. ΚΠ 1581 Compendious Exam. Certayne Ordinary Complaints iii. f. 44^v This racking and hoyssinge vp of rentes. 1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements 390 A notorious and renowmed tyrant, not only in regard of his exceeding cruelty, but also of his vniust rackings and exactions. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 186 Ruines his soule, and ads vnto the store, Of his accounts, by racking of the pore. 1630 G. Hakewill Apologie (ed. 2) iv. xiv. 522 By vnconscionable racking of rents and wresting from them excessiue fines. 1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana 217 Racking of Rents is a vile thing in the richer sort, an uncharitable one to the poorer; a mark of slavery, and nips your Common-wealth in the fairest Blossom. a1680 T. Shipman Carolina (1683) 102 Nor did his vast Revenues rise From Rackings, worst of Tyrannies. 1690 J. Child Disc. Trade i. 17 The racking up of Rents in the Years 1651. and 1652. 1833 Times 11 Dec. 4/3 The real pressure upon Ireland is the ruthless racking of the peasantry. 1940 Eng. Hist. Rev. 55 223 Racking of rents, raising fines, enclosure..had the effect of screwing more revenue out of the land. 1952 Past & Present 2 34 Others, driven below the poverty-line by loss of common lands, racking of rents, and the general rise in prices..had to abandon their holdings. 1974 Times 17 Sept. 15/6 We bleat equality, while our budgets..often necessitate the racking of rents. †d. The action of pulling tight or making fast by rack-lashings. Also with down. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [noun] > method of fixing securely > specific racking1853 1853 H. Douglas Ess. Mil. Bridges (ed. 3) iii. 170 The oars and poles were used as ribands for racking. 1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Racking-down, an operation performed with the aid of rack-lashing in laying a gun or mortar platform. 2. figurative. Extending (the intellect, the understanding, etc.), or straining (meaning, credulity, etc.); an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [noun] wrestingc1444 pervertinga1450 corruptiona1513 straining1528 writhing?1532 hacking1539 violence1546 racking1556 wrying1562 wringing1565 detorting1579 wrest1581 detortion1598 wrench1603 torture1605 distorting1610 violencing1612 refraction1614 misacception1629 distortion1650 distorture1709 misacceptation1721 torturing1753 verbicide1826 stretch1849 twisting1890 queeringness1955 1556 N. Ridley Certen Conf. Rydley & Latymer sig. B8 Their racking, wrything, wringing, and monstrously iniurieng of goddes holy scripture. 1560 W. Baldwin Funeralles Edward VI sig. C1^v Repent you false lawiers your racking and strayning To make all lawes serve to your gredy gayning. 1564 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge xiii. f. 144 It can not be drawen, nor by racking can be stretched to any other sense. 1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1751/2 Thys grieuous racking and extending of this worde Procurement. 1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity xx. 75 Christianity may be made very uneasie and uncomfortable by several rackings and distractings of the Mind. 1749 B. Franklin Proposals rel. Educ. Youth in Papers (1961) III. 408 Themes and Verses in Latin..were so constantly every where pressed, to the Racking of Childrens Inventions beyond their Strength. 1764 C. Churchill Gotham ii. 2 The daily, nightly racking of the brains, To range the thoughts. 1804 Times 19 Jan. 3/3 From Jacobi's sweet strains, With much racking of brains, When at last I had made a translation. 1864 M. S. Cummins Haunted Hearts xxii. 346 Perceiving that the racking of his memory was costing him fruitless efforts, she said... ‘You will know me when I tell you who I am.’ 1889 B. Bosanquet Ess. & Addr. v. 92 The Infinite, the supra-sensuous, the Divine, are..connected in our minds with futile rackings of the imagination about remote matters which only distract us from our duties. 1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 66 His brain it's like a piece of machinery: it wont stand a whole lot of racking. It's best when it all runs along the same. 1946 New Eng. Q. 19 376 Examination..reveals nothing that could have occasioned great racking of brains. 1992 B. Elton Gridlock 242 Despite all this racking of the brain, no serious research has been done into the commonest and most radical ‘time bender’ of them all, which is..exercise. 3. The undergoing or causing of strain, distortion, dislocation, or convulsion (of a structure, frame, ship, human body, etc.); the result of this; spec. distortion of a structure under shear. Also: the action of subjecting a ship to lateral distortion with broadside gunfire. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [noun] > action or fact of putting or being out of shape > as result of strain racking1739 collapsing1789 collapse1833 the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > vibration > [noun] > shaking > violent shaking concussion1490 succussion1622 conquassationa1632 concussation1645 succussation1649 squassation1731 racking1865 juddering1924 the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [noun] > action or fact of putting or being out of shape > as result of pressure or strain > under shear racking1957 1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge 18 The Frames could move..without any Danger of racking or straining. 1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 128 That the Timber..be both firmly spliced and bolted together, to prevent their wrecking, swagging or dislocating. 1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §306 Nothing to oppose the racking of the frame. 1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby li. 507 Mrs Sliderskew..expressed her satisfaction by various rackings and twitchings of her head and body. 1865 A. L. Holley Treat. Ordnance & Armor §261 The obvious disadvantages of the 'racking' system, by means of heavy projectiles at low velocities, are loss of power and loss of time. 1868 Rep. Munitions War 267 The ‘Bellerophon’ could pass the forts at New York within 200 yards without suffering except by racking. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding ii. 23 This plan..has the important advantage of opposing the racking of the floor plates longitudinally. 1871 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 9 Mar. One cold will run into another, and a confirmed cough ensue, bringing on straining and racking of the lungs. 1886 Science 24 Sept. 273 The injury to the houses themselves is astonishingly light, and generally confined to racking of frames. 1919 Times 27 Oct. 18/5 The exclusive Three-Point Cantilever Springs..minimise the twisting and racking of frame and body. 1957 Internat. Affairs 33 262 The long rackings that led the American polity and economy to the Great Depression. 1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. II (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 149 Racking, in timber testing, the application of loads to an assembly, tending to deform it in shear. 1968 D. D. Gladwin & J. M. White Eng. Canals ii. ii. 28 With continual racking over inclines the boats became leaky. 1977 Engin. Materials & Design Aug. 17/1 A batch of fifty radiators made in this way have been subjected to tests against thermal shock cycling, pulsating pressure, vibration and racking. 1992 Farmers Weekly 14 Aug. 35/4 The Class 6 box—for stacking up to six high—should only be handled frequently if restrained from ‘racking’ or sideways distortion. 4. Intense pain. Cf. racking adj.² 2. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > anguish or torment piningOE anguishc1225 pinsing?c1225 tormentc1290 afflictiona1382 martyrdomc1384 tormentryc1386 labourc1390 martyryc1390 throea1393 martyre?a1400 cruelty14.. rack?a1425 hacheec1430 prong1440 agonya1450 ragea1450 pang1482 sowing1487 cruciation1496 afflict?1529 torture?c1550 pincha1566 anguishment1592 discruciament1593 excruciation1618 fellness1642 afflictedness1646 pungency1649 perialgia1848 perialgy1857 racking1896 1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 680 Violent aching of the head..with racking in the bones. 1910 F. Arnold Text-bk. School & Class Managem. II. iv. 175 The symptoms of influenza are a violent aching of the head and eyeballs, pain in the back, racking in the bones, and a hard, dry, cough. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingn.² Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Forms: see rack v.² and -ing suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.², -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < rack v.² + -ing suffix¹. The action or process of drawing off wine, etc., from the lees; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [noun] > racking off rackingc1475 c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 74 (MED) The rackinge, coynynge, rebatinge, and other salvations of wynes. 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §305 It is in common Practise, to draw Wine, or Beere, from the Lees, (which we call Racking). 1669 C. Merret Some Observ. conc. ordering Wines in W. Charleton Two Disc. 206 The usual times for Racking, are Midsommer and Alhallontide. 1736 Compl. Family-piece i. v. 187 Often racking it off is the best Way to fine it, and always rack it into small Vessels... If it should work after racking, put into your Vessel some Raisins. 1783 B. J. Bromwich Experienced Bee-keeper 59 If it does not become fine after the first racking, the operation should be repeated. 1826 D. Booth Art of Brewing (ed. 2) 164 Soon after the spring racking,..the casks may be gradually stopped. 1854 E. C. Evans tr. T. J. Pelouze & E. Frémy Gen. Notions of Chem. 366 The wine is racked off a second and a third time in January and February. The third racking is followed by a second clarification. 1885 Harper's Mag. Oct. 678 Shavings of beech or birch and ‘finings’ of isinglass are put in the cask, which take with them the last sediment, and the beer is now ready for racking. 1956 Times 9 Oct. 8/5 The adolescence of Champagne is not as that of other wines, a quiet waiting upon nature, interrupted only by occasional rackings. 1979 M. B. Quinion Drink for its Time (Mus. Cider, Hereford) 16 Some farmers tried to arrest fermentation by continual racking. 1997 Florida Times-Union (Nexis) 21 Dec. i1 In a pinch, you can forego racking and strain your brew into its penultimate home through wet cheesecloth or a paper coffee strainer. Compounds General attributive, as racking-can, racking-cellar, racking-cock, racking-engine, racking-pump, racking-shed, racking-tap, etc. ΚΠ 1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. § 1318 The racking-can, tun-pail, dropping-bag, bottling-bench, and box for carrying bottles. 1846 W. L. Tizard Theory & Pract. Brewing (ed. 2) xx. 547 A more perfect racking-engine than such as are in ordinary use. 1846 W. L. Tizard Theory & Pract. Brewing (ed. 2) xx. 547 The racking tap,..is made long enough to project some few inches above the bottom of the vessel. 1851 DeBow's Rev. 10 27 The fire is now damped, and the crust removed by skimming; occasionally, however, the clear liquid is drawn off by a racking-cock from underneath. 1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 Aug. 3/1 The cask..is further cleaned with steam..before being allowed to roll off into the ‘racking shed’, where it is filled with porter. 1892 H. E. Wright Handy Bk. Brewers i. 42 Certain albumenoid bodies..consequently go out of solution in the cask itself, instead of being left behind in the fermenting or racking vessels. 1892 H. E. Wright Handy Bk. Brewers xiii. 503 Racking hose..and racking cocks of fermenting vessels require attention. 1911 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Daily Herald 27 Nov. 11/6 The racking cellar is equipped with one 6 arm and one 8 arm automatic racker and two filterers. 1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 30/2 Rack, to fill a cask or container with beer in a brewery, hence racking cock, racking machine. The term is also used for wines. 1978 T. Kinsella Coll. Poems (1996) 219 He brandished his solid body Thirty feet high above their heads therefore And with a shout of laughter Traversed a steel beam in the Racking Shed. 1979 T. Foster Dr. Foster's Bk. Beer ii. 27 At the end of fermentation the beer is run directly into the casks, sometimes via a second vessel known as a ‘racking back’. 1990 Friends of Wine Spring 29/2 The repeated racking operations and natural settling and clarifying should enable him to dispense with both fining and filtration. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingn.³ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Forms: see rack v.³ and -ing suffix¹. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.³, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < rack v.³ + -ing suffix¹. Now chiefly U.S. The action or fact of moving with a rack n.⁶; (also) the action of riding a horse in this gait. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > type(s) of gait > rack racking1530 rack1566 racking pace1611 Canterbury rack1636 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 260/2 Rackyng of a horse in his pace, racquassure. 1607 G. Markham Cavelarice iv. 5 Taking his time keeping from trotting; and his motion of legges from ambling. and so compound this which is called a traine or racking. 1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Rules for buying Horses Racking..'tis the same Motion as Ambling, only it is a sweeter Time. 1818 J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. U.S. 51 Racking is a favourite ambling pace. a1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) vi. 149 The band was proceeding at a smart rate, the horses moving with the gait peculiar to American animals, known as ‘pacing’ or ‘racking’. 1859 Herbert's Hints to Horse-keepers xvii. 280 Their attention is called to the superior advantages of that particular variety of gait called ‘Racking’. 1974 Marlboro Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, S. Carolina) 18 Apr. 10/3 In ladies racking, Sherry Jean Nolan..rode King to a first-place win. 1995 Roanoke (Virginia) Times & World News (Nexis) 13 July (Current section) 5 Joe Pack of Christiansburg, second in men's racking; third in show pleasure racking; fourth in style racking. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † rackingn.⁴ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁵, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < rack v.⁵ + -ing suffix¹. Obsolete. rare. The fact of being driven before the wind; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impelling or driving > [noun] > propulsion > by air or current racking1630 waftage1651 wafture1755 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > driving (of wind) racking1630 1630 J. Taylor Wks. 102 With what greedy desire did many thousands..nayle their eye sights dayly vpon Fanes, Weather-cocks, the smoke of Chimneyes, and the Racking of the Cloudes. 1631 J. Mabbe tr. F. de Rojas Spanish Bawd Prol. sig. A6^v Those rackings to and fro of the Clouds. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2018). † rackingn.⁵ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack n.⁹, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < rack n.⁹ + -ing suffix¹. Compare also wracking n. and adj. at wrack v.² Derivatives.Compare the discussion at wrack n.¹ of the difficulty of distinguishing between wrack n.¹ (and rack n.⁹) and wrack n.² in this period. With use in quot. ?1689 compare to go to rack and ruin at rack n.⁹ 1. Obsolete. rare. Wrecking, destruction. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > overthrow of a person, institution, belief, etc. fallOE confusionc1290 subversiona1325 overthrowingc1330 overturninga1398 downcasta1400 wrackc1400 downcastingc1425 eversionc1425 profligationc1475 demolitionc1550 overturec1555 wreck1577 overturnc1592 racking?1689 upsetting1827 subversal1843 demolishment1884 ?1689 in Polit. Ballads (1860) II. 8 The Queen and Prince banisht for what none dares own, Unless for the racking and ruin o' the state. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2018). rackingn.⁶ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Apparently formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: an element of unknown origin, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: Apparently < a first element of unknown origin + -ing suffix¹. Compare later rack v.⁶ Nautical. 1. A piece of spun yarn or other material used for binding ropes together (see rack v.⁶). ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > lashings, seizings, or securing ropes > a rope used for stopper1636 lanyard1669 lasher1669 racking1704 selvage1711 selvagee1750 gilguy1833 tier1844 stop1846 selvage-stropc1860 1704 Athenian Oracle III. 130/2 In an Hours time the Rope drew through the Racking. 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 143 Racking and Seizing for the Parrel. 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 199 As the topmast is elevated the rackings are cut. c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 34 It will greatly assist the spunyarn racking. 1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 116 Cast off the racking. 1908 Man. Seamanship I. iii. 105. To make the racking neater after passing the last roundabout turn, the end is taken outside all parts of the racking. 1985 P. Clissold Ansted's Dict. Sea Terms 225 Racking, the material (spun yarn or whatever may be used in its place) by which the ropes of a tackle are racked. †2. The action of binding two ropes together with spun yarn or other material. Cf. later rack v.⁶ Obsolete. ΚΠ 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Racking, the fastening two opposite parts of a tackle together, so as that any weighty body suspended thereby, shall not fall down, although the rope..should be loosened by accident. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingn.⁷ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁴, -ing suffix¹; rack n.⁴, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: Partly < rack v.⁴ + -ing suffix¹, and partly < rack n.⁴ + -ing suffix¹. 1. a. The action of fitting something with, or placing objects in, a rack or racks. ΚΠ 1821 Times 16 Oct. 1/3 A young man..possessed of a general knowledge of the wine coopering business, with bottling, packing, racking, clearing from the Docks. 1888 Daily News 18 July 2/6 Restitution of ‘pennies’ if the girls do their own racking. 1965 Punch 31 Mar. 474/1 The charge for encapsulation or racking [in a freezer cemetery] will be 4,300 dollars per body. 1984 J. Sutherland in Listener 21 June 10/2 Category fiction, or ‘genre’, is defined at the very end of the merchandising chain, by the sectional ‘racking’ that the bookseller gives it in his shop. 1999 E. M. Lawrence & T. C. Shaw Compl. Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards v. xviii. 230 The final thing to check in a rack of balls is whether the person who did the racking put certain balls in their proper places. b. Shelving, usually that designed for storage purposes rather than for display; an example of this. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > stand > [noun] > shelf > collectively > functional and inexpensive racking1857 1857 Times 21 Feb. 12/3 There would be in such a room a racking up and down the room on the walls. 1870 N.Y. Herald 5 Mar. (advt) 4/3 Fixtures for sale—Consisting of Shelving, Counters, Desks, Signs, Racking, &c. 1907 Indiana (Pa.) Democrat 13 Mar. An order to compel the railroads to provide permanent stakes and racking necessary to the use of flat cars for the hauling of lumber. 1937 G. Frankau More of Us viii. 91 While Art Department hummed like dynamo As frenzied hands tore pictures from their racking. 1956 Times 20 Nov. (advt.) 6/5 Whether for storage racking..or light shelving, the Dexion system provides a slotted angle exactly right for every purpose. 1976 Times 9 Dec. 20/2 The conventional way of doing this is to store the goods statically, in some form of shelving, or racking. 2003 Bath Chron. (Nexis) 6 Mar. 3 We can't put racking on the walls, so the racking we have been using..is not suitable for such an old building. 2. Mining. The washing of ore, esp. tin ore, on a rack. Now historical. ΚΠ 1828 W. J. Henwood in Trans. Royal Geol. Soc. Cornwall (1832) 4 157 The contents..go through another operation, called..Framing or Racking. 1850 J. Weale Rudim. Dict. Terms Archit. iii. 366/1 Racking, in mining, a process of separating small ores from the earthy particles by means of an inclined wooden frame: the impurities being washed off. 1857 J. Scoffern et al. Useful Metals & their Alloys 575 In operating with the racking-table, the slimy ore, to the extent of twelve or fifteen pounds, is placed at the fixed head, and washed down over the hinge-board to the table. 2004 L. Mayers Balmaidens v. 82 The purest tin..was then barrowed to the frames, ready for racking, and the rest was either disposed of as waste or retrunked. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingn.⁸ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁷, -ing suffix¹. Etymology: < rack v.⁷ + -ing suffix¹. Bricklaying. The process of building a wall by laying bricks in steps at the corner or end, to be added to and completed later; the resulting arrangement of bricks. Also racking back. Cf. raking n.³ ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with brick > [noun] > methods of nogging1434 bricks and mortar1576 brick nog1822 racking1869 dinging1873 repointing1901 1869 Mechanics' Mag. 4 June 398/1 The extrados of the arch of the culvert was left nearly smooth, without any offsets, steps, or ‘racking back’, to afford a firm hold of the puddle of the bank. 1894 C. F. Mitchell Building Constr. iii. 132 Racking is the term applied to the method of arranging the edge of a brick wall, part of which is unavoidably delayed while the remainder is carried up. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 437/1 The foundations must be spread below the column bases... This is accomplished by rackings of stone or brickwork. 1945 E. L. Braley Brickwork iii. 60 Racking back is the best method of executing this particular job, as by this means the bonding bricks can be perfectly bedded. 1994 Fine Homebuilding 5 Dec. 4/2 Running shingles vertically up the roof, or racking, does not nullify Celotex's warranty. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingadj.¹ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Forms: see rack v.³ and -ing suffix²; also 1500s rakkynge. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.³, -ing suffix². Etymology: < rack v.³ + -ing suffix². Compare racking n.³ and later rack n.⁶ Of a horse: moving at a rack (rack n.⁶); accustomed to move at a rack. Also of a horse's gait or pace, and in extended use. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [adjective] > ambling amblanta1393 amblinga1393 ambuling1476 racking1532 pacing1597 steady1835 single-footeda1864 single-footing1890 trippling1901 1532 Sir George Lawson's New Year's Gift to Henry VIII (P.R.O. E 101/420/15) ij rakkynge geldings the one gray & the other a blakk baye. 1562 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 166 One old rackynge nagg. 1585 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 108 My rackinge blacke nagge. 1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies iii. 147 Some ride upon the racking Steeds of Treasure. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Staff. 41 He himself became a racking, but no thorough-paced Protestant. 1735 Sportsman's Dict. II. at Rules for buying horses Galloping is the last, and must be joined to all the other paces; and this every trotting and racking horse naturally does. 1796 J. Hunter Compl. Dict. Farriery & Horsemanship at Croup It is said of a horse, that it has a racking croup, when in walking he goes right with his fore quarters, but swings his croup from one side to the other. 1817 J. K. Paulding Lett. from South I. 103 I bought a new horse,—one of your capital racking ponies, as they are yclept. 1850 W. T. Moncrieff Orig. Coll. Songs 128 I've got the biggest ticker, And the toughest racking horse. 1888 R. Kipling Broken-link Handicap in Plain Tales from Hills 143 A long, racking high mare with..a drifty, glidy stretch. 1928 Sci. Monthly May 398 Sometimes when in a hurry he moved the arm and leg of the same side together, like the racking or pacing gait of a horse. 1940 Hayward (Calif.) Rev. 26 June 4/1 If you want a good ‘ambling’ horse for an easy ride, you had better take one that acquired the gait through inheritance, from a long line of racking stock. 1977 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Amer. 6 Mar. 22/1 The racking horse has been popular in the United states since Colonial times. 1999 Commerc. Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) (Nexis) 8 July gc3 Watching the racking horse compete is simply beautiful. In fact, when a horse is truly racking, you can sit in the saddle and count one, two, three, four as each foot hits the ground one at a time. Compounds racking pace n. = rack n.⁶; an easy, ambling pace. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > type(s) of gait > rack racking1530 rack1566 racking pace1611 Canterbury rack1636 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Amble,..an ambling, or racking pace. 1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) xxviii. 134 There is also a third pace, which is neither nor amble, but is called a racking pace, that is to say, betweene an amble and trot. 1630 Tincker of Turvey 22 It was a pretty Tit then, the Beast has a racking pace still. 1676 London Gaz. 1138/4 Two Cart-Geldings,..a little racking-pace. 1678 E. R. Experienced Farrier i. 64 If you Elect for Buck-hunting, Galloping on the Highway Post, Hackney, or the like, then a racking Pace is required: and this Motion is the same that Ambling is, only it is in a swifter time. 1722 P. Dudley in Philos. Trans. 1720–21 (Royal Soc.) 31 167 A Moose..shoves along side-ways, throwing out the Feet, much like a Horse in a racking pace. 1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXIX. at Rack The racking pace is much the same as the amble. 1871 L. Colange Zell's Pop. Encycl. II. 703 Racker, A horse that moves with a racking pace. 1912 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 25 151 Yonder comes the surgeon in a racking pace! 1942 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 3 Sept. 12/3 This generation of women will have to curb their stride to the racking pace of the hobble skirt era. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingadj.² Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.¹, -ing suffix². Etymology: < rack v.¹ + -ing suffix². 1. a. Exacting; extortionate; demanding rack rents. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > extortion > [adjective] writhinga1529 torcenous1532 bloodsucking1548 racking1576 exacting1583 extorting1598 extortious1607 sharking1608 wringing1620 exactious1630 extortionizing1630 extortionable1632 extortioninga1641 extortionous1644 extortive1646 screwing1647 extracting1654 hirudinous1654 rack-renting1779 extortionate1789 extortionary1805 1576 G. Whetstone Castle of Delight in Rocke of Regard sig. k.iii Uile Usurie, his racking rents doth rake, As auditour, account doth Briberie take. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. i. sig. B2^v The court of affection, held by that racking steward, Remembraunce. 1636 D. Featley Clavis Mystica vii. 90 Hee layeth the blame on..racking Landlords. 1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions i. i. 16 Let those..learn to make no lesse conscience of a racking bargain. 1817 W. Scott Search after Happiness xvi Cursed war and racking tax Have left us scarcely raiment to our backs. 1956 S. H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily viii. 115 I also heard..the story of how a racking landlord was frightened out of his wits. †b. Let at a rack rent. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ a1625 J. Fletcher Wit without Money (1639) i. sig. B4 Your racking pastures, that have eaten up as many singing Shepherds, and their issues, as Andeluria breedes. 2. Torturing, tormenting; causing intense pain or suffering. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > [adjective] anguishous?c1225 wounding?c1225 asperc1374 derflya1400 rending?c1400 furiousc1405 fretting1413 piercingc1450 anguish1477 piquant1521 anguishing?1566 plaguing1566 asperous?1567 agonizing1570 tormenting1575 wringing1576 cutting1582 tormentous1583 tormentful1596 tormentuous1597 racking1598 torturous1600 lacerating1609 torturing1611 tearinga1616 heart-aching1620 breast-rending1625 crucifying1648 tormentative1654 martyring?a1656 tormentive1655 discruciating1658 cruciatory1660 anguishful1685 brain-racking1708 probing1749 agonized1793 anguished1803 harrowing1810 vulnerary1821 grinding1869 torturesome1889 wrenching1889 tortuous1922 the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > relating to agony or torment > causing agony or torment sharpc1000 grievousc1290 smartc1300 fellc1330 unsufferablea1340 keena1375 poignantc1390 rending?c1400 furiousc1405 stoutc1425 unbearablec1449 agonizing1570 tormenting1575 cruciable1578 raging1590 tormentuous1597 pungent1598 racking1598 acute1615 wrenching1618 excruciating1664 grinding1681 excruciate1773 discruciating1788 unendurable1801 of bare sufferance1823 perialgic1893 1598 F. Rous Thule ii. sig. P 4 If in his confusion thou delite, Then torture it [sc. his heart] vpon a racking wheele. 1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. iii. sig. E4^v Crack not the sinewes of my patience With racking torment. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 481 Maladies Of gastly Spasm, or racking torture. View more context for this quotation 1693 W. Congreve tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xi. 231 The most racking Thought, which can intrude. 1701 W. Congreve Judgm. Paris 11 Far from thee be anxious care: And racking thoughts that vex the great. 1724 A. Z. in J. Henley et al. tr. Pliny the Younger Epist. & Panegyrick I. i. xii. 28 In one of the most racking and cruel of his Fits..I happen'd to make him a Visit. 1748 D. Hume Philos. Ess. Human Understanding viii. 160 A Man, lying under the racking Pains of the Gout. 1798 W. Wordsworth Female Vagrant in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 77 Groans, that rage of racking famine spoke, Where looks inhuman dwelt on festering heaps! 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. vi. 118 Getting up early for a journey, with a racking head-ache. 1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. iv. 106 My concealed and racking regrets for my broken idol and lost elysium. 1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere viii. 57 I had been kept awake by a most racking tooth-ache. 1926 N. Coward Easy Virtue i. 14 I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I woke with a racking headache. 1950 P. H. Love in H. Brickell O. Henry Prize Stories of 1951 (1951) 180 Looking at his sleeping face, she was washed with shame and racking love. 1977 V. Glendinning Elizabeth Bowen v. 74 Weekend guests, however racking emotionally, were not unduly taxing physically. 1998 Jrnl. Law & Relig. 13 278 Possibly the most common and compelling ground suggested for justifying assisted suicide is to relieve a patient of racking pain. 3. Causing strain; dislocating; convulsing; breaking under strain. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > misshapenness > [adjective] > putting out of shape warping1598 perversive1693 distortive1823 deforming1870 racking1874 1815 R. B. Sheridan Let. 7 Dec. (1966) III. 240 This racking cough which seized me last saturday sennight..seems resolved to..carry me off. 1843 J. C. Frémont Rep. 17 Oct. in Exped. J. C. Frémont (1970) i. 545 Fragments of an altered siliceous slate..render the road racking to a carriage. 1874 S. J. P. Thearle Naval Archit. (new ed.) I. 118 Great racking strains are set up, tending to alter the relative positions of the beams to each other and to the ship's side. 1895 R. Kipling in Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Oct. 3/2 Spirits, goblins, and witch-people were moving about on the racking ice. 1925 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 21 Sept. (advt.) 21/5 Smoother performance adds years to the life of your Ford by saving it from the racking strain of knocking and pounding that soon wears out the engine. 1973 J. S. Foster Struct. & Fabric I. iv. 157/1 Resistance to racking distortion of the frame under working load is provided by the infill panels. 1990 M. Collins Rain Darling 7 Suddenly, Rain started coughing. Deep, racking coughs that sounded like they were pulling her chest apart, tearing up her insides. Derivatives ˈrackingly adv. in a racking or exhausting manner. ΚΠ 1857 Chambers's Jrnl. 8 33 They will certainly become..monotonous by virtue of being so rackingly relevant. 1917 E. Ferber Fanny Herself xvii. 303 Even as she smiled a great lump came into her throat, and the bruise blurred before her eyes, and she was crying rackingly, relievedly, huddled there in her red plush corner. 1950 J. Hersey Wall vi. vi. 579 He had lost quite a bit of blood and was weak; but mainly he was depressed. Terribly, rackingly sad. 1997 J. Sherman & S. Shwartz Vulcan's Forge ix. 118 A thin woman coughed rackingly: silicosis or the equivalent, from all the dust. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingadj.³ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁵, -ing suffix². Etymology: < rack v.⁵ + -ing suffix². Chiefly poetic. Now rare. 1. Of a cloud: driven before the wind. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > [adjective] > driven before the wind racking1590 scud1860 1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 2nd Pt. sig. I8 Draw My chariot swifter than the racking cloudes. 1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 ii. i. 27 Three glorious suns, not seperated by a racking Cloud. 1614 C. Brooke Ghost Richard III sig. F1 Like Racking clouds the people flock, and runne, With pitchie Breathes, t' obscure my rising Sonne. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 307 Drives the racking Clouds along the liquid Space. 1731 J. Trapp tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. III. 392 Where-e'er the Wind exerts It's Force, the Clouds fly racking thro' the Air. a1747 L. Welsted tr. Horace Odes iv. ii, in Wks. (1787) 80 When the Dircæan Swan prepares to fly, A depth of air, Antonius, bears him high, Above the racking clouds. 1808 W. Scott Marmion iii. xxii. 155 Of middle air the demons proud, Who ride upon the racking cloud. a1864 J. Clare Later Poems (1984) II. 693 The swift racking clouds o'er the heavens are breaking. 1900 G. H. Temple Epic of Columbus' Bell & Other Poems 39 When yon sun..slopes adown the Western blue, To paint the racking clouds a various hue. 2. Of a wind or storm: whirling, buffeting; carrying things along. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > impelling or driving > specifically of winds drivingc1325 racking1667 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > relating to action of wind-currents > driving racking1667 waftya1874 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 182 The sport and prey Of racking whirlwinds. View more context for this quotation 1749 T. Newton Milton's Paradise Lost ii. 182 We perhaps..shall be hurl'd Each on his rock transfix'd, the sport and prey Of wracking whirlwinds. 1822 G. Darley Errors of Ecstasie 7 A violent and racking storm. 1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iii. 152 The racking winds..whirl them away again. 1897 J. B. Tabb Lyrics 40 Why is it, that, unruffled still, The welkin's brow I see, While mine, with racking wind and tide, Deep-furrowed oft must be? a1972 C. Day Lewis Poems, 1925–72 (1977) 300 Through the window I see your elms In labour with the racking storm. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). rackingadj.⁴ Brit. /ˈrakɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈrækɪŋ/ Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rack v.⁶, -ing suffix². Etymology: Either < rack v.⁶ (although this is first attested slightly later) + -ing suffix², or < rack- (in racking n.⁶) + -ing suffix². Originally Nautical. Esp. of a knot: that fastens something together by racking (see rack v.⁶). Chiefly in racking bend, racking hitch, racking seizing, racking turn. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [adjective] > fastening ropes together racking1831 1831 T. O'Scanlon Diccionario Marítimo Español Hitch (Racking). 1847 W. N. Brady Kedge-anchor (ed. 2) ix. 264 The lashing should be passed on both, with racking turns, hove taut by a Spanish windlass. 1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Secure..reef-pendant to boom with a racking or rolling hitch. 1908 Man. Seamanship I. iii. 99 The remaining turns are passed as racking turns. 1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 136/2 Racking Seizing, small stuff passed around two ropes or spars in an over and under figure-of-eight fashion. 1962 G. Danton Theory & Pract. Seamanship xvi. 426 The Racking Seizing is more complex. It is started in the same way,..but figure-of-eight turns are taken. 1968 E. Franklin Dict. Knots 23 When two ropes of widely different thicknesses have to be bent together, the conventional bends are virtually useless. The Racking Bend, however, serves the purpose excellently. 2004 Operative Techniques in Sports Med. 12 53 The No. 5 FiberWire is tied over anterior and lateral borders of the clavicle with a racking hitch. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹1406n.²c1475n.³1530n.⁴1630n.⁵?1689n.⁶1704n.⁷1821n.⁸1869adj.¹1532adj.²1576adj.³1590adj.⁴1831
随便看	θ184539 θ18454 θ184540 θ184541 θ184542 θ184543 θ184544 θ184545 θ184546 θ184547 θ184548 θ184549 θ18455 θ184550 θ184551 θ184552 θ184553 θ184554 θ184555 θ184556 θ184557 θ184558 θ184559 θ18456 θ184560

rackingn.1

rackingn.2

Compounds

rackingn.3

† rackingn.4

† rackingn.5

rackingn.6

rackingn.7

rackingn.8

rackingadj.1

Compounds

rackingadj.2

Derivatives

rackingadj.3

rackingadj.4

rackingn.¹

rackingn.²

rackingn.³

† rackingn.⁴

† rackingn.⁵

rackingn.⁶

rackingn.⁷

rackingn.⁸

rackingadj.¹

rackingadj.²

rackingadj.³

rackingadj.⁴