wrackn.1
/rak/, U.S. /ræk/ I. Senses relating to punishment, disaster, or ruin.
1. figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 49 Hath he not lost much wealth by wrack of sea? View more context for this quotation† b. In the phrase to do (also take) wrack (on one)
a. Retributive punishment; vengeance, revenge; in later use also, hostile action, active enmity, persecution. Obsolete exc. archaic or poetic.Frequently coupled with words of similar meaning, as war, wrath, wreak, and tending to pass into sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > [noun]
wrakec825
wrackc900
wrechec1175
yielda1200
wrakedomc1275
vengeancea1300
vengement1338
awreaking1340
rewardc1350
revengeancec1480
wratha1500
avengementa1513
revengementa1513
revengea1525
avengeance1535
avenge1568
requital1569
ultion1575
venge1587
wreck1591
revanche1615
vindict1639
payback1973
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun]
assault1297
venuea1330
scoura1400
wassailc1400
frayc1430
brunta1450
sault1510
onseta1522
attemptate1524
onsetting1541
breach1578
dint1579
objectiona1586
invasion1591
extent1594
grassation1610
attack1655
run1751
wrack1863
mayhem1870
serve1967
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) iv. xxv. 356 Hi..mid þy wiite ðæs foresprecenan wræces slægene wæron.
971 Blickl. Hom. 25 Þæt unasecgenlice wræc & þæt ungeendode wite, þæt þon unlædon þær geteohhod biþ.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 890 Til þat worm vr lauerd þan spack, wordis bath of wreth and wrack.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 24 Sic diuisioun may nocht lest rycht lang, But weir and wrak and mekle opin wrang.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxiii. 177 And yet can man..Use wracke for rewth? can murder like him best?
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxxviii. 148 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 110 Now pine and paine conspire With angry Angells wreak and wrack to frame.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ii. sig. Aa5v There gan he..With bitter wracke To wreake on me the guilt of his owne wrong. View more context for this quotation
a1630 Faithful Friends (1975) ii. iii. 46 Nor shall the life or goods Of thee, or any thy assistants feele, The wrack of his iust anger.
1863 H. W. Longfellow Musician's Tale ii. v, in Tales Wayside Inn 75 Strange memories crowded back Of Queen Gunhild's wrath and wrack.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 516 Will it bring him back To let loose on the country war and wrack?
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > retributive punishment > inflict retributive punishment [verb (intransitive)]
wreakc825
to do, have, nim (= take), ta, or take wrake (of, on, or upon)?a900
to do (also take) wrack (on one)12..
to do, have, make, nim, seek, and esp. take wrechec1200
to take (also nim) vengeance1297
to perform, seek, spend, work, and esp. take (…) wreakc1330
visita1382
vengec1400
revengec1485
avenge1535
hevenc1540
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > take or execute revenge [verb (intransitive)]
wreakc825
to do, have, nim (= take), ta, or take wrake (of, on, or upon)?a900
to do (also take) wrack (on one)12..
to do, have, make, nim, seek, and esp. take wrechec1200
to take (also nim) vengeance1297
wrakea1300
to perform, seek, spend, work, and esp. take (…) wreakc1330
visita1382
vengec1400
revengec1485
avenge1535
hevenc1540
resent1612
exact1858
12.. in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1882) I. 91 Tol Tem Sok et Sak with yryn' and with water deme and do wrak.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 1585 Myn hornys [are made] for to take wrak On shrewes, & to putte abak.
2. (b)1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. i. ix. 12 Herode..supposing..his rule to goe to wracke, and ruine.1577 H. Bull tr. M. Luther Comm. 15 Psalmes 273 Whiles all things seeme to fall to wracke and ruine.1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. xii. 196 Gods familie and the common wealth goe to wracke and ruine.
a. Damage, disaster, or injury to a person, state, etc., by reason of force, outrage, or violence; devastation, destruction.In very frequent use from c1580 to c1640.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation
harryingc900
harrowingc1000
wastinga1300
destructionc1330
harryc1330
wastenessa1382
wastitya1382
desolation1382
unroningnessa1400
wrackc1407
exile1436
havoc1480
hership1487
vastation1545
vastitude1545
sackc1550
population1552
waste1560
ravishment1570
riotingc1580
pull-down1588
desolating1591
degast1592
devastation1603
ravage1611
wracking1611
ravagement1766
herriment1787
carnage1848
wastage1909
enhavocking-
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > [noun]
harmOE
tinsela1340
damagec1374
offensiona1382
pairmentc1384
wrongc1384
offencec1385
wrackc1407
lesion?a1425
ruin1467
prejudicec1485
domager1502
qualm1513
jacture1515
imblemishment1529
perishment1540
impeachment1548
blame1549
dommagie1556
execution1581
damagement1603
sufferancea1616
stroy1682
murder1809
punishment1839
c1407 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 5426 The tother [bow], hydouse and ryght blak, Wrought al oonly for the wrak, Ful of knottys.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 2184 For lak of manhod drawiþ hym euer a-bak; He is so dredful and ferful of þe wrak.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Z.ii The golden apple that the Troyan boy. Gaue to Uenus..Which was the cause of all the wrack of Troy.
1561 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc v. ii Loe, here..the wofull wracke And vtter ruine of this noble realme!
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades vi. 120 On this odde knight alacke We neuer shall set eyes againe, this day wil be his wracke.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ix. sig. I3v Eftsoones the others..on their foes did worke full cruell wracke . View more context for this quotation
1634 Malory's Most Anc. Hist. Prince Arthur i. cxxxix. Ff 2 If he be angry he wil..worke you much wrack in this countrey.
1640 T. Carew Poems 6 Time and age will worke that wrack Which time or age shall ne're call backe.
1659 Bibliotheca Regia (title page) Such of the Papers..as have escaped the wrack and ruines of these times.
1817 W. Scott Harold i. i. 10 When he hoisted his standard black, Before him was battle, behind him wrack.
1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum in Poems (new ed.) 26 The wind in winter-time Has made in Himalayan forests wrack.
1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens I. 122 While the country was a prey to fire and sword, the Church stood high above the wrack and waste.
b. In the phrase to bring (also go, put, run) to wrack (and ruin). Also figurative. Cf. rack n.9 1.In frequent use, esp. with go (went), c1560–1680.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > [verb (intransitive)]
woundc897
spilea1325
grieve1398
to bring (also go, put, run) to wrack (and ruin)1412
mangle1533
to do, make, etc. (great, much) spoil1575
wreck1634
trash1970
1412 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy Prol. 161 For nere writers, al wer out of mynde, Nat story only, but of nature and kynde The trewe knowyng schulde haue gon to wrak.
1420–2 J. Lydgate Story of Thebes ii. 2215 Vpon his foon he rolled it [sc. a huge stone] at onys, That ten of hem wenten vnto wrak.
1528 Rede me & be nott Wrothe sig. b viv What did monkes and fryeres thanne, When masse went thus to wracke?
1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. iii. sig. Piijv He whose shyppe is gone to wracke.
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 70 This Arke..by diuine prouidence..was gouerned from running to wracke.
1591 E. Spenser Teares of Muses in Complaints 400 Thy scepter rent, and power put to wrack.
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 111 Arezzo beeing by long dissention amongest themselues almost brought to wracke.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. xvi. 67 The greater part of his army..were all put to wrack.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 670 And now all Heav'n Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspred. View more context for this quotation
1702 R. L'Estrange tr. Josephus Jewish Antiq. v. ii, in Wks. 115 All their Affairs went to Wrack upon it.
1757 D. Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 421 All nature was going to wrack... Gods and men were perishing in one common ruin.
1864 C. Kingsley Roman & Teuton ii. 33 All things were going to wrack.
1876 R. Browning Pacchiarotto & Other Poems 129 The man but for whom had gone to wrack All that France saved from the fight.
c. In other phrases, as †at (also in) wrack. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [adverb] > in ruins
at (also in) wrack1586
a-wrack1627
a-wreck1878
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. F8v When Rome was now at wracke, her nobilitye spoyled, and her glory trode vnder foote.
1901 J. Barlow Ghost-bereft 113 Round his gang crashed roof and wall in wrack.
d. dialect. The brunt or consequences of some action. (Cf. racket n.2 Phrases.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [noun] > undesired or unintended consequence(s) or side-effect
repercussion1603
aftermath1671
ill effect1675
mal-effect1686
side effect1814
wrack1844
implication1873
backwash1876
katzenjammer1897
backlash1921
kickback1935
spillover1940
fallout1954
rub-off1962
booby prize1972
own goal1975
1844 W. Barnes Gloss. Dorset Dial. (at cited word) ‘Mind you'll stan' the wrack o't’.
1871– in south. dial. use (Oxf., Berks., Devon): Eng. Dial. Dict. (at cited word)
3. † b. The ruin, downfall, or overthrow of a person or persons; adversity, misfortune. Obsolete.
a. A disastrous change in a state or condition of affairs; wreck, ruin, subversion. ? Obsolete.
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
society > authority > lack of subjection > rebelliousness > revolution > [noun] > wreck, ruin, or subversion
wrackc1400
c1400 Found. St. Bartholomew's 49 Where oure dede and purpos ys of the wracke of chastite.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 105 A frend no wracke of wealth, no cruell cause of wo, Can force his frendly faith vnfrendly to forgo.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. E2 v What haue I loud but wrack of others weale?
a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. H2v Wit oft hath wracke by selfe-conceit of pride.
1595 G. Markham Trag. Sir R. Grinuile (1871) 42 The wet worlds sacke Swells in my song, the Dirge for glories wracke.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iii. v. 22 The miserie is example, that so terrible shewes in the wracke of maiden-hood. View more context for this quotation
1692 J. Locke 3rd Let. for Toleration x. 281 Toleration then does not..make that woful wrack on True Religion which you talk of.
1823 W. Scott Peveril III. iv. 94 He that serves Peveril munna be slack, Neither for weather, nor yet for wrack.
1862 E. Bulwer-Lytton Strange Story II. xxi. 159 Have all those sound resolutions..melted away in the wrack of haggard dissolving fancies!
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition
rureOE
ebbingc1200
fallc1225
declinea1327
downfallingc1330
downfalla1400
fall of mana1400
wanea1400
ruinc1405
wrack1426
inclinationc1450
declination1533
labefactation1535
ebb1555
falling off1577
declining1581
inclining1590
declension1604
downset1608
neck-breaka1658
overseta1658
lapsing1665
reducement1667
lapse1680
labefaction1792
downshift1839
subsidence1839
downgrade1857
downturn1858
downslide1889
downswing1922
turn-down1957
tail-off1975
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 7727 Lat no man..with hys wordys falsly smyte, Malycyously to make wrak Off hys neyhebour.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 21 Tyrantis settand thair haill purpois and intent vpone mischeiff and wrack of vtheris.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella Sonn. xix On Cupids bowe, how are my hart strings bent, That see my wracke, and yet imbrace the same?
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile lvii To flye from them..Were to..crush my selfe with shame and seruile wrack.
1635 A. Gil Sacred Philos. Holy Script. i. xviii. 119 By sinne there was a generall wrack of mankinde.
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) ii. cxxxvii. 23 That smooth-tongu'd Gale whose whispers woke That Wrack which stole on me.
II. Something that causes or experiences suffering or damage, and related uses.† 4. † b. A means or cause of subversion, overthrow, or downfall. Obsolete.
a. An instance of suffering or causing wreck, ruin, destruction, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation > instance of suffering or causing
wrack1594
1594 T. Kyd tr. R. Garnier Cornelia v. i Amongst so many wracks As I haue suffred both by Land and Sea.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 609 The new Conquerours..by wrackes testified to the earth, that they had wrecked themselues on her and their enemies.
1630 H. Lord Display Two Forraigne Sects 33 Thunder and lightning..such as seemed to threaten a finall wracke to the earth.
1632 T. Heywood Iron Age i. i Troy was twice rac't, and Troy deseru'd that wracke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > overthrow of a person, institution, belief, etc. > a means or cause of
confusionc1385
wrack1579
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 2 The Syrens songue is the Saylers wracke.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads ii. 781 The fool Amphimachus, to field, brought gold to be his wrack.
1615 J. Day Festivals 248 How at length might it haue prooved a wrack to his owne Person.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. ii. 105 And thus I feare at last, Humes Knauerie will be the Duchesse Wracke . View more context for this quotation
1650 W. Brough Sacred Princ. 124 When shall I be delivered from thee, gaole of my Soule, and wrack of my salvation.
1682 Cochran in Howie Cloud of Witnesses (1778) 199 Jugling with the Lord..hath been our ruin and wrack.
5. † c. A damaged or injured part; damage, impairment. Also figurative. Obsolete.
a. A thing or person in an impaired, wrecked, or shattered condition. (Cf. wrack n.2)
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun] > demolition > a ruin or wreck
fallinga1382
wracka1586
wrakea1627
land-wracka1657
wreck1814
rack-heap1850
wreckage1874
crack-up1926
a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xxxvii. xv The mann whom God directs,..Though he doth fall, no wrack he proveth.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 368 Young one,..who is this Thou mak'st thy bloody Pillow?.. What's thy interest In this sad wracke ? View more context for this quotation
a1803 in Child Ballads IV. 187/2 O spare me, Clyde's water,..Mak me your wrack as I come back, But spare me as I gae.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 204 Vrack,..a broken down person.
1888 Scot. Sermons in Brit. Workman May Doon gaed the biggin', and unco wrack.
b. That which remains after the operation of any destructive action or agency; a vestige or trace left by some subversive cause. Also figurative.In later use, esp. with leave, frequently by misapprehension of Shakespeare Tempest iv. i. 156, where the reading (altered by Malone to wrack) is racke: see rack n.2 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun]
signa1382
stepa1382
ficchingc1384
marka1400
tracesc1400
scentc1422
footstep?a1425
tidinga1440
relicc1475
smell?a1505
stead1513
vestigy1545
print1548
token1555
remnant1560
show1561
mention1564
signification1576
footing?1580
tract1583
remainder1585
vestige1602
wrack1602
engravement1604
footstepping1610
resent1610
ghost1613
impression1613
remark1624
footprint1625
studdle1635
vestigium1644
relict1646
perception1650
vestigiary1651
track1657
symptom1722
signacle1768
ray1773
vestigia1789
footmark1800
souvenir1844
latent1920
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. iv. sig. H4 I am a poore poore Orphant; a weake, weak childe, The wrack of splitted fortune.
1656 A. Cowley Muse in Pindaric Odes iii. note Poetry..makes what Choice it pleases out of the Wrack of Time of things that it will save from Oblivion.
1793 W. Wordsworth Evening Walk 360 No wrack of all the pageant scene remains.
1813 Ld. Byron Giaour (ed. 5) 61 The wither'd frame, the ruined mind, The wrack by passion left behind.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 406 An ancient seat of civilisation..was swept away at a single stroke, leaving hardly a wrack behind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > [noun] > damaged or injured part
breach1608
wrack1610
bruise1670
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xvii. 151 With the threeds..[the spider] repaireth all rents and wracks of the same [i.e. of the web].
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xvii. 151 A man carefull of his priuate estate, and of good foresight, in repairing of small decaies and preuenting of wracks.
a1631 J. Donne Progresse of Soule vii, in Poems (1633) 4 This soule which oft did teare, And mend the wracks of th'Empire.
a1631 J. Donne Iuuenilia (1633) sig. B3 Wee mend the wracke and staines of our Apparell.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wrackn.2
/rak/, U.S. /ræk/ 1. transf. (of persons).1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. B4 Menaphon..espied certain fragments of a broken ship floating vpon the waues, and sundrie persons driuen vpon the shore... These three (as distressed wrackes) preserued by some further forepoynting fate [etc.].1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iv. 24 Me thought I sawe a thousand fearefull wracks, Ten thousand men, that fishes gnawed vpon. View more context for this quotationa1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 75 That most ingratefull boy..From the rude seas..Did I redeeme: a wracke past hope he was. View more context for this quotation† c. plural. Fragments of wreckage. Also figurative. Obsolete.
a. A wrecked ship or other vessel; a vessel ruined or crippled by wreck. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > wrecked vessel
wrackc1386
wreck?a1500
carcass1600
racka1658
silver wreck1700
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 513 The Constable of the Castel down is fare To seen this wrak and al the shipe he soghte.
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 29 She will..split or billage on a Rocke, a wracke.
1636 G. Sandys Paraphr. Psalmes David xlviii. 76 Blacke Eurus roars, And spreads his wracks on Tharsian shores.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 126 Close by shoar we saw the wrack of that Saique, which stranded the same day.
1692 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1880) IV. 594 His ship become a wrak.
1756 in Hist. Coll. Essex Inst. (1863) V. 158/1 Drowned from the wrack of the sch[ooner].
1756 in Hist. Coll. Essex Inst. (1863) V. 158/1 The sea came and washed them over from the said wrack.
1772 A. Lindsay Auld Robin Gray v But hard blew the winds, and his ship was a wrack.
1862 H. W. Longfellow Cumberland in Birds of Passage ii. vi Down went the Cumberland all a wrack.
1905 Cornhill Mag. Feb. 209 ‘Wracks, man,’ he shouted,..pointing to the double light~house,..‘there is no chance of wracks for a puir fisherbody noo’.
b. Remnants of, or goods from, a wrecked vessel, esp. as driven or cast ashore; shipwrecked effects or property, wreckage; also in earlier use, the right to have such. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > cast up by sea or flood
wrack1428
water-wrack1605
rack1655
ejectments1658
wrack-goods1671
rejectamenta1791
rejection1838
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property > flotsam or jetsam
shipwreck?a1100
wreke1420
wrecka1425
wrack1428
jetsam1491
waveson1526
wrake1544
sea-wracks1548
water1552
wracksa1586
flotsam1607
wrack-goods1671
floatage1672
wreck-goods1693
jettison1708
wreck-wood1821
wreckages1864
society > law > legal right > rights to do or use something > [noun] > rights of gathering or collecting
ware1491
wind-rake1622
wrack1639
floatage1858
1428 Excheq. Rolls Scotl. IV. 439 Le wrak cujusdam navis combuste infra portum de Leth.
1452 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 125/1 Invenerunt dictum forestarium custodem de Wrac et Waif infra dictum dominium de Coldingham.
1501 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 428 Ane brokin schip,..quhilk, throw storme of sey, happin to brek, and the wrak of hir come in on the cost of Croudane.
1584 R. Greene Morando sig. Div Tis an ill flaw that bringeth vp no wracke.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V i. ii. 165 As rich..As is the owse and bottome of the sea With sunken wrack.
1639 in W. Maitland Hist. Edinb. (1753) II. 151/1 All their antient Rights,..with Pit and Gallows, Sack and Soke, Thole, Theam, Vert, Wrack, Waifs [etc.].
a1645 J. Philipot Villare Cantianum (1659) 11 Witsom were goods driven to the shore, when there had not been for some space any wrack visible.
a1662 P. Heylyn Cosmographie (1666) i. 82 Charybdis is a Gulf..which violently attracting all vessels that come too nigh it, devoureth them, and casteth up their wracks [1652 wrecks].
1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. i. 118 My own lost wealth thou giv'st not only back, But driv'st upon my Coast my Pyrats wrack.
1883 R. Whitelaw tr. Sophocles Antigone 591 Casting up mire and blackness and storm-vext wrack of the sea.
1897 Longman's Mag. Feb. 333 Through the heaped mysteries of waith and wrack, When the long wave from the long beach draws back.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property > flotsam or jetsam
shipwreck?a1100
wreke1420
wrecka1425
wrack1428
jetsam1491
waveson1526
wrake1544
sea-wracks1548
water1552
wracksa1586
flotsam1607
wrack-goods1671
floatage1672
wreck-goods1693
jettison1708
wreck-wood1821
wreckages1864
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > remaining fragment > fragments of wreckage
wracksa1586
wreckages1864
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. sig. Ii1v Who then my selfe should flie..So close vnto my selfe my wrackes doo lie.
2.
a. The total or partial disablement or destruction of a vessel by any disaster or accident of navigation; = shipwreck n. 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > [noun]
shipbrechea1067
ship-breaking1398
ship-brechinga1400
shipwreckc1450
wreck1463
wrake1513
wrack1579
naufrage1589
wrecking1775
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 23v I haue in my voyage suffred wrack with Vlisses.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. vi. sig. E7 As when a ship..An hidden rocke escaped hath vnwares, That lay in waite her wrack for to bewaile.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 2 Glad that with wracke of ship, and losse of goods they may prolong a despised life.
1648 G. Daniel Eclog. v. 331 In a wracke, wee trust A Sayle-yard, or a Planke of broken Chest, To carrie vs.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Flotson Jetson, or Goods cast out of the Ship, being in danger of Wrack.
a1879 H. Dewar in Poems of Places, Brit. Amer. 35 In the wrack tall masts would crack.
b. figurative and in figurative context.
ΚΠ
1580 H. Gifford Posie of Gilloflowers ii. sig. I.4 Fell Sathan is chiefe rular of these seas: Hee seekes our wracke, he doth these tempestes rayse.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) v. sig. Pp2v Yet being imbarqued in the same ship, the finall wrack must needs be common to them all.
1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. D3v Ryot sets vp sayles, And..Driues your vnsteddie fortunes on the point Of wracke ineuitable.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. lii. 275/1 When Seas did foame..His force effecting with his cares preuented still my wracke.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. ii. sig. H3 Hee that steeres by that gale, is euer in danger of wracke.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II vii, in Poems (1878) III. 138 The greater winds of Faction broke in here, To make a wracke.
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) i. ccxxxiv. 14 That venturing any longer stay to make, Was but to run upon a certain wrack.
3.
a. Marine vegetation, seaweed or the like, cast ashore by the waves or growing on the tidal seashore. (Cf. wreck n.1 2, varec n. 1)Also cart-wrack, kelp-wrack, lady-wrack, sea-wrack.In first quot. the precise sense is not quite clear.grass wrack: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun]
sea-frothc1440
wrekec1440
ooze?c1475
wreck1499
wrack1513
moss1543
reek1545
wrake1547
sea-wrack1551
seaweed1577
varec1676
wreck-weed1821
Algal alliance1846
wreck-ware1865
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. ix. 34 Rent me in pecis, and in the fludis swak, Or droun law vndir the large seis wrak.
1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. K iv Alga..is commonly called in englyshe see wrak.
1650 W. How Phytologia Britannica 101 Divers sorts of Sea-Oake, or Wrack.
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 71 Herbs..growing commonly upon Stones and Rocks in the Sea: 14. Wrack.
1700 Wallace's Acct. Orkney (rev. ed.) iv. 72 When the Wrack is driven in greater plenty, all the People..divide the Wrack according to the proportion of Land they have.
1716 Petiveriana i. 159 Full of small seedy Warts as in our common Wrach or Quercus maritima.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxxii. 500 Fucus, Wrack, or Sea-weed properly so called, has two kinds of bladders.
1849 H. Miller Foot-prints of Creator 10 The shores..of the lake were strewed..by a line of wrack, consisting..first..of only marine plants, then of marine plants mixed with those of fresh-water growth, and then..of lacustrine plants exclusively.
1855 C. Kingsley Glaucus 57 The purple and olive wreaths of wrack, and bladder-weed, and tangle.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down 78 The farmers grow sea-weed for manure, cutting the wrack periodically... Stones are placed for the wrack to grow on.
b. Weeds, rubbish, waste, etc., floating on, or washed down or ashore by, a river, pond, or the like; = wreck n.1 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > by a river or pond
wreckc1440
wrack1605
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 284 When pale Phlegme, or Saffron-coloured Choler,..print vpon our Vnderstandings Tables, That, water-wracks; this other, flame-full fables.
1658 Melrose Regality Rec. (S.H.S.) I. 174 Quhen tymber treis or onie uther fewall or watter wrak cumes doune the river and lands there.
1851 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (ed. 2) I. 396/2 To prevent the wrack floating on the surface of the water finding its way into the sluice.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi i. 14 When we came within five or six miles of the land, the yellowish-green tinge of the sea..was suddenly succeeded by muddy water with wrack, as of a river in flood.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi i. 14 The wrack, consisting of reeds, sticks and leaves.
1877 V. L. Cameron Across Afr. I. 63 I observed wrack of grass and twigs in the branches of small trees.., showing how high the floods..must be at times.
c. Field-weeds, roots of couch-grass or the like, esp. as loosened from the soil to be collected for burning; vegetable rubbish or refuse found on agricultural lands; = wreck n.1 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > on agricultural land
wrack1715
wreck1743
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > [noun] > clearing land > vegetable refuse
beat-borough1602
beat1620
trumpery1669
wrack1715
1715 A. Pennecuik Geogr., Hist. Descr. Tweeddale 6 [They] will not suffer the Wrack to be taken of their Land, because (say they) it keeps the Corn warm.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Wrack, Dog's grass,..Triticum repens, Linn. Perhaps denominated Wrack, because..it is harrowed out in the fall, and burnt.
1883 Longman's Mag. Apr. 658 Seed has to be sown, turnips have to be thinned and hoed..and ‘wrack’ gathered.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Wrack, weeds; especially ‘whickens’ and sea-weed.
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations, as †wrack-ship (= sense 1); †wrack-rich; wrack-threatened, wrack-threatening.
ΚΠ
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. E3 All which together like a troubled Ocean, Beat at thy rockie, and wracke-threatning heart. View more context for this quotation
1598 J. Dickenson Greene in Conceipt 38 More deafe..then are the wrack-rich Libique rocks.
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 87 A Sternelesse Shippe..On mightiest Seas, wrack-threatn'd on each syde.
1693 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 2) iii. iii. 420 Where the Wrack ship is, the Owner may be known by Writs in the Ship.
C2. † wrackfree n. Obsolete = wreck-free adj.† wrack-goods n. [compare Dutch wrakgoederen, German wrackgut] Scots Law Obsolete = sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of specific class, person, or place > [adjective] > having specific immunities or privileges
wreck-free1205
wrackfree1570
unlicensed1644
clergyable1762
1570 in W. Boys Hist. Sandwich (1792) 775 Savyng that we shalbe wrakfree of oure owne goodes whatsoever.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Wrecfry,..wrack-free, exempt or freed from the forfeiture of Shipwracked Goods and Vessels to the King.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun] > cast up by sea or flood
wrack1428
water-wrack1605
rack1655
ejectments1658
wrack-goods1671
rejectamenta1791
rejection1838
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property > flotsam or jetsam
shipwreck?a1100
wreke1420
wrecka1425
wrack1428
jetsam1491
waveson1526
wrake1544
sea-wracks1548
water1552
wracksa1586
flotsam1607
wrack-goods1671
floatage1672
wreck-goods1693
jettison1708
wreck-wood1821
wreckages1864
1671 Shetland Docum. in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. (1892) XXVI. 194 To..secure all wrack and waith goods.
1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. vii. 76 Our Custome agrees with..other Nations, except in the Matter of waith and wrack Goods.
wrack-spangle n. local (see quot. 1856).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Polychaeta > suborder Sabelliformia > member of family Serpulidae
serpula1768
serpulean1835
serpulidan1835
serpulacean1841
wrack-spangle1856
serpuline1882
serpulid1883
1856 Househ. Words 8 Nov. 391/1 Wrack-spangle, the popular name of these things, implies that they deck the sea-weeds as spangles adorn robes. The savans call them Serpulæ.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
wrackn.3
/rak/, U.S. /ræk/ 1. † b. Scottish. world's wrack, earthly ‘pelf’ or ‘dross’; worldly possessions, goods, or gear. Obsolete.
a. That which is of an inferior, poor, or worthless quality; waste material; rubbish. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > refuse or rubbish > [noun]
wrakea1350
outcastingc1350
rammel1370
rubble1376
mullockc1390
refusec1390
filtha1398
outcasta1398
chaff?a1400
rubbishc1400
wastec1430
drossc1440
raff?1440
rascal1440
murgeonc1450
wrack1472
gear1489
garblec1503
scowl1538
raffle1543
baggage1549
garbage1549
peltry1550
gubbins?1553
lastage1553
scruff1559
retraict1575
ross1577
riddings1584
ket1586
scouring1588
pelf1589
offal1598
rummage1598
dog's meat1606
retriment1615
spitling1620
recrement1622
mundungus1637
sordes1640
muskings1649
rejectament1654
offscouring1655
brat1656
relicts1687
offage1727
litter1730
rejectamenta1795
outwale1825
detritus1834
junk1836
wastements1843
croke1847–78
sculch1847
debris1851
rumble1854
flotsam1861
jetsam1861
pelt1880
offcasting1893
rubbishry1894
littering1897
muckings1898
wastage1898
dreck1905
bruck1929
crap1934
garbo1953
clobber1965
dooky1965
grot1971
tippings-
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless
hawc1000
turdc1275
fille1297
dusta1300
lead1303
skitc1330
naught1340
vanityc1340
wrakea1350
rushc1350
dirt1357
fly's wing1377
goose-wing1377
fartc1390
chaff?a1400
nutshella1400
shalec1400
yardc1400
wrack1472
pelfrya1529
trasha1529
dreg1531
trish-trash1542
alchemy1547
beggary?1548
rubbish1548
pelfa1555
chip1556
stark naught1562
paltry?1566
rubbish1566
riff-raff1570
bran1574
baggage1579
nihil1579
trush-trash1582
stubblea1591
tartar1590
garbage1592
bag of winda1599
a cracked or slit groat1600
kitchen stuff1600
tilta1603
nothing?1608
bauble1609
countera1616
a pair of Yorkshire sleeves in a goldsmith's shop1620
buttermilk1630
dross1632
paltrement1641
cattle1643
bagatelle1647
nothingness1652
brimborion1653
stuff1670
flap-dragon1700
mud1706
caput mortuuma1711
snuff1778
twaddle1786
powder-post1790
traffic1828
junk1836
duffer1852
shice1859
punk1869
hogwash1870
cagmag1875
shit1890
tosh1892
tripe1895
dreck1905
schlock1906
cannon fodder1917
shite1928
skunk1929
crut1937
chickenshit1938
crud1943
Mickey Mouse1958
gick1959
garbo1978
turd1978
pants1994
1472–5 Rolls of Parl. VI. 156/1 Such [bowstaves] as were called the wrak, not goode ne able to make of but Childern' Bowes.
1492–3 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 249 Reparaciones[on a mill]... pro cariagio le ramell et wrak a scaccario usque Viram.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 9 §4 That no persone or persones doo caste or unlade out of any maner of Ship..any maner of Balaste rubbishe gravell or any other wracke or filthe, but oonelie upon the Lande.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 204 Vrack, anything worthless.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire 204 ‘His nout's jist mere vrack.’
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Mar. 4 They send anything—the very wrack of towns—instead of the valuable agricultural labourer which we want.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > worldly or secular property
temporalty1377
temporalitiesc1475
world's wrack?a1513
temporala1525
wreck1562
temporaries1596
worldhood1841
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 61 For warldis wrak but weilfar nocht avalis.
1568 R. Henryson in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 127 Or wickit ennemye..evir is reddye Quhen wretchis in þis warldis wrak [?a1500 calf] do scraip To draw his nett.
1568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunterian Club) 223 Quhill..stuffit weill with warldis wrak, Amang my freindis I wes weill kend.
a1586 in Maitland Fol. MS. (S.T.S.) 241 Now he hes gold and warldis wrak lyand him besyd.
1792 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) 659 The warld's wrack we share o't, The warstle and the care o't.
2. An inferior grade of flax. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > inferior
wrack1879
1879 J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. IX. 298/1 Of the lower qualities of Riga flax the following may be named:—Wrack flax, White picked wrack,..Picked wrack flax.
1879 J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. IX. 298/1 The lowest quality of Riga flax is..Dreiband Wrack.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† wrackadj.
Obsolete. rare.
1. Of persons: Worthless, base, evil.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil person > [adjective]
unseelyOE
illa1200
unwrast?c1225
wrackc1375
wronga1382
viciousc1386
naughtyc1460
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [adjective] > base or vile
low?c1225
lechera1300
vilea1300
feeblea1325
unfreec1330
villain1340
wrackc1375
villains1390
noughty1443
slovenly?1518
peasant1550
sluttish1561
vild1567
knaifatic1568
scallardc1575
base1576
tinkerly?1576
beggarly?1577
cullion-like1591
brokerly1592
broking1592
ignoble1592
cullionly1608
disnoble1609
unsolid1731
lowly1740
blackguard1751
blackguardly1779
menial1837
low-flung1841
caddish1868
basilar1884
bounding1904
bounderish1928
c1375 Kindheit Iesu 315 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 12 Bote a giw of heorte wrac Alle hise lawes þare he to brac.
2. Damaged, impaired, injured; unsound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > [adjective] > damaged
mangledc1400
shendedc1400
vitiate?a1475
appaired1475
wrack1487
maggleda1522
manka1522
mankeda1522
spiltc1540
massacred1590
through-galled1594
spoiled1598
flawed1608
impaired1611
damaged1771
scathed1791
waterlogged1795
spoilt1816
wrecked1818
injured1857
marred1870
buggered-up1893
messed-up1909
puckerooed1919
dinged1920
trashed1926
mucked-up1930
sheg-up1941
buggered1942
screwed-up1942
mucked-about1966
1487 in H. E. Malden Cely Papers (1900) 164 iiij last heryng, iij wrack & on rooue; the wrack cost viijli & the roue ixli.
1496–7 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 32 Item, a diaper clothe, wrack, content in lengthe iij yardes di.
1584 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1882) IV. 343 To devyde the guid and sufficient fische fra the wrak and evill.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
† wrackv.1
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To avenge or revenge (a person, deed, etc.); to punish. Also const. on.
ΘΠ
society > authority > punishment > retributive punishment > inflict (retributive punishment) [verb (transitive)] > for an offence or on an offender
wreakc825
awreak1048
wrackc1275
wrakec1275
venge1303
bewreakc1325
avenge1377
hevena1400
sella1400
revengec1425
prosecute1543
pursue1570
wrecka1593
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > execute (vengeance) [verb (transitive)] > avenge (an injury or injured person)
wreakc825
awreak1048
righta1275
wrackc1275
wrakec1275
venge1303
bewreakc1325
avenge1377
hevena1400
sella1400
revengec1425
countervenge1523
wrecka1593
redeem1598
vindicate1623
to pay off1749
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10108 Baldulf..þencheð in þissere nihte to slæn þe..to wracken his broðer.
a1300 Body & Soul in Map's Poems (Camden) 338 Merci criende lutel availede, ȝwan Crist it wolde so harde wrac.
1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms frae Hebrew xviii. 47 The God wha wracks a' right for me.]
2. To give vent to or wreak (spite, malice, etc.).
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > treat maliciously [verb (transitive)] > give vent to
bewreakc1325
wrack1635
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 199 The King went to wrack his spite on their corpes.
1645 J. Fary Gods Severity 21 You..must needs wrack your malice by revenge.
1720 M. Prior Cupid Mistaken iii Couldst thou find none other, To wrack [1709 wreck] thy spleen on?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
wrackv.2
/rak/, U.S. /ræk/ Now archaic or dialect.† 1. intransitive. To suffer or undergo shipwreck. Obsolete.figurative and in figurative contexts.a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. Cv Thus selfe-loue..Makes beautie wracke against an ebbing tide.1596 L. Andrewes Serm. (1629) 327 Their Love hath wracked, and from kind love, beene turned to deadly hate.1616 B. Jonson Forrest iii. 95 in Wks. I God wisheth, none should wracke on a strange shelfe.1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 223 Sir, you haue beene saued vpon my coast, I hope you will not suffer mee to wrack vpon yours.figurative.a1592 R. Greene Mamillia (1593) ii. sig. E4 A professed Curtizan, whose honestie and credit is so wracked in the waues of wantonnesse.a1592 R. Greene Mamillia (1593) ii. sig. K No..tempests of aduersitie shal..wracke my fancie against the slipperie rockes of inconstancie.1594 1st Pt. Raigne Selimus G 3 b My feeble barke,..while thy foamie floud doth it immure, Shall soon be wrackt vpon the sandie shallowes.1609 B. Jonson Case is Alterd iii. sig. E3v O! in what tempests do my fortunes saile, Still wrackt with winds more foule and contrary, Then any northen guest. View more context for this quotation1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada i. iii. i. 23 Though wrack'd and lost, My Ruines stand to warn you from the Coast.1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) i. ccxvii. 13 Till miserably wrack'd, most woful she Quite sinks in this self-torments monstrous Sea.1897 W. Beatty Secretar x. 77 The wind that drave them..was the same that had wracked..Darnley, and Bodwell.]
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > suffer shipwreck [verb (intransitive)]
wrack1470
make1526
to make wreck1577
split1602
shipwreck1607
wreck1671
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur viii. xxxviii. 331 One told hym there was a knyghte of kyng Arthur þ[a]t had wrackyd on the rockes.
1596 ‘L. Piot’ tr. A. van den Busche Orator sig. Z1 The ship happened to wracke, so that the poore man and his daughter saued themselues in a little Island.
a1620 J. Dyke Divers Select Serm. (1640) 146 When a Shippe wrackes at Sea, the goods are utterly lost.
1632 R. Sanderson 12 Serm. 56 We may..cast our wares into the Sea, to lighten the ship that it wracke not.
2. To wreck (a vessel, mariners, etc.); to ruin or cast ashore by shipwreck. Chiefly passive and in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > [verb (transitive)] > to person or thing
werdec725
wemc900
forworkOE
evilc1000
teenOE
grievec1230
misdoc1230
mischievec1325
shond1338
endamagec1374
unrighta1393
damagea1400
disvail14..
disavail1429
mischief1437
outrayc1440
prejudice1447
abuse?1473
injuryc1484
danger1488
prejudicate1553
damnify?a1562
wrack1562
inviolate1569
mislestc1573
indemnify1583
qualify1584
interess1587
buse1589
violence1592
injure1597
bane1601
envya1625
prejudiciala1637
founder1655
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict > oppress or afflict
heavyc897
narroweOE
overlayOE
overseamOE
twingea1300
to weigh downa1340
grieve1340
besit1377
oppressc1384
foila1400
thringa1400
empressc1400
enpressc1400
aska1425
press?a1425
peisea1450
straita1464
constraina1500
overhale1531
to grate on or upon1532
wrack1562
surcharge1592
to lie heavy uponc1595
to weigh back, on one side, to the earth1595
to sit on ——1607
to sit upon ——1607
gall1614
bear1645
weight1647
obsess1648
aggrieve1670
swinge1681
lean1736
gravitate1754
weigh1794
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > feeling of spite > [verb (transitive)]
bewreakc1325
wrack1562
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > cause to suffer shipwreck [verb (transitive)] > wreck a vessel
break1382
score1504
wrack1562
wreck1576
throw1577
to cast away1600
shipwreck1624
pile1891
1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello Tragicall Hist. Romeus & Iuliet f. 38v Driuen hard vpon the bare and wrackfull shore, In greater daunger to be wract, then he had been before.
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. D3 I feare me he is wrackt vpon the sea.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. viii. §11. 104 They pursuing the victorie, had left part of the fleet..to saue those that were wrackt.
a1626 F. Bacon Elements Common Lawes (1630) 52 Goods wrackt..shall be preserued to the vse of the owner.
1683 Britanniæ Speculum 86 Most of the Fleet, wrackt that Night by a sudden Tempest, lay split on the Shore.
1699 T. Allison Acct. Voy. Archangel 22 Putting provision therein for subsistance, in case we should be forced ashore and wracked.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang.
1838 J. F. Cooper Homeward Bound xxiv I esteem it a great privilege..to have the honour of being wracked..in such company.
1838 J. F. Cooper Homeward Bound xxiv If she [the ship] had been honorably and fairly wracked.
1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 19 The seas..With outstretch'd angry arms..Wracking whole fleets in pride like riven toys.
3. reflexive.1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iii. xvi. sig. N3v That weake, and enuied if they should conspire They wracke themselues, and he hath his desire.in extended use.a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella Sonn. lxvii Doth Stella now beginne with pitteous eye The raigne of this her conquest to espie? Will she take time before all wracked be?1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iv. i. 96 Eightie odde yeares of sorrow haue I seene, And each houres ioy wrackt with a weeke of teene. View more context for this quotation1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iii. cxxxii. 36 The Precedent may dangerous prove, and wrack Thy Throne and Kingdome.
a. To cause the ruin, downfall, or subversion of (a person, etc.); to ruin, overthrow. Also reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy oneself [verb (reflexive)]
spillc950
waste1548
wrack1564
spoil1578
ruin1585
consume1606
death warrant1721
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > destroy or ruin a person
spillc950
amarOE
smitelOE
aspillc1175
mischievec1325
to bid (something) misadventurec1330
mara1375
fordoc1380
undo1390
wrack1564
to make roast meat of (also for)1565
wrake1567
wreck1590
speed1594
feeze1609
to do a person's business1667
cook1708
to settle a person's hash1795
diddle1806
to fix1836
raddle1951
1564 in D. Masson Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1898) XIV. 201 Seing the puir men, awnaris of the saidis ship and guidis, ar..uterlie heriit and wrakkit.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 186 Suppose we suld wrack [1621 wrake] our self, and tyne The feild, and all our kin be hangit syne.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xli. iv Now he is wrackt, say they, loe their he lies.
1604 A. Craig Poet. Ess. sig. A 4 When Troy was wrackt..He came... Yet sayd he nought.
1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes 59 Externall Beautie..betrays and wrackes the Soules of many.
1792 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum IV. 327 I'll cross him, and wrack him untill I heart break him.
1810 in R. H. Cromek Remains 27 He'll dance wi' ye, ‘O'er Bogie’, Maiden, and wrack ye.
b. To render useless by breaking, shattering, etc.; to injure or spoil severely; to destroy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)]
to bring to noughteOE
forspillc893
fordilghec900
to bring to naughtOE
astryea1200
stroyc1200
forferec1275
misdoa1325
destroyc1330
naught1340
dingc1380
beshenda1400
devoida1400
unshapea1400
to wend downa1400
brittenc1400
unloukc1400
perishc1426
defeat1435
unmake1439
lithc1450
spend1481
kill1530
to shend ofc1540
quade1565
to make away1566
discreate1570
wrake1570
wracka1586
unwork1587
gaster1609
defease1621
unbe1624
uncreate1633
destructa1638
naufragate1648
stifle1725
stramash1788
disannul1794
destructify1841
locust1868
to knock out1944
dick1972
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1310/2 In the towne of Bedford the water came vp to the market place..; their fewell, corne and haie was wrackt & borne awaie.
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido i. i Of them all scarce seuen [ships] doe anchor safe, And they so wrackt and weltred by the waues [etc.].
a1678 A. Marvell Bermudas in Misc. Poems (1681) 10 Where he the huge Sea-Monsters wracks, That lift the Deep upon their Backs.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna vii. xxxviii. 175 As if the world's wide continent Had fallen in universal ruin wrackt.
1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy I. vi. 110 The [castle]..is wracked by the Saxon's breath.
1899 S. MacManus In Chimney Corners 252 His queeny bee..was wrackin' an' ruinin' all afore her.
4. intransitive. To undergo ruin or subversion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (intransitive)] > be destroyed, ruined, or come to an end
losec888
fallOE
forlesea1225
perishc1275
spilla1300
to go to wreche13..
to go to the gatec1330
to go to lostc1374
miscarryc1387
quenchc1390
to bring unto, to fall into, to go, put, or work to wrakea1400
mischieve?a1400
tinea1400
to go to the devilc1405
bursta1450
untwindc1460
to make shipwreck1526
to go to (the) pot1531
to go to wreck (and ruin)a1547
wrake1570
wracka1586
to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587
to lie in the dusta1591
mischief1598
to go (etc.) to rack (and ruin)1599
shipwreck1607
suffera1616
unravel1643
to fall off1684
tip (over) the perch1699
to do away with1769
to go to the dickens1833
collapse1838
to come (also go) a mucker1851
mucker1862
to go up1864
to go to squash1889
to go (to) stramash1910
to go for a burton1941
to meet one's Makera1978
a1586 Sir P. Sidney tr. Psalmes David (1823) xxxvii. xviii [Those] who be swarved To ill, both they and theirs shall wrack.
1599 E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1632) 191 Ayde..without which the whole Empire were in daunger of wracking.
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlvi. 56 I smore if I conceill, I wrak if I reveill, My hurt.
1607 J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Spirituall Plough 89 What gaine these..when they..themselves remaine castawayes, wracking in the depth of hell.
Derivatives
ˈwracking n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > devastation or desolation
harryingc900
harrowingc1000
wastinga1300
destructionc1330
harryc1330
wastenessa1382
wastitya1382
desolation1382
unroningnessa1400
wrackc1407
exile1436
havoc1480
hership1487
vastation1545
vastitude1545
sackc1550
population1552
waste1560
ravishment1570
riotingc1580
pull-down1588
desolating1591
degast1592
devastation1603
ravage1611
wracking1611
ravagement1766
herriment1787
carnage1848
wastage1909
enhavocking-
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > [adjective] > causing shipwreck
wrackful1558
wreckful1596
wracking1611
naufragous1615
shipwreckinga1616
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Naufrageux, wracking, shipwrack-bringing.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ruinement, a ruining, wracking, spoyling.
1642 J. Vicars God in Mount 13 The utter wracking and worrying of the..holy lambes of Christ.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† wrackv.3
Scottish. Obsolete.
transitive. = wrake v.3
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > inspection, survey > inspect, survey [verb (transitive)] > officially > so as to check quality
view1534
wrake1584
wrack1609
visit1654
1609 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 284 Ilk last vesetit urackit, jadget and brunt be thame [sc. inspectors].
1611 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) II. 326 Anent the mater of the hering and barrells thairof, sufficiencie of pakking and wrakking of the same.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
† wrackv.4
Obsolete.
(? < Dutch wraken to make leeway. Cf. German wrak, wraking, leeway.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > direct or manage ship [verb (transitive)] > work out a course > have to compensate for leeway
wrack1635
1635 in M. Christy Voy. L. Foxe & T. James (1894) II. 280 In that distance holding the same course, I was 1 d. 17 m. wrekt from my true course.
1635 L. Foxe North-west Fox sig. X4v In that distance holding the same course, I had 1 d. for cur. & var. to wracke upon, and within one point at most of my paralell.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1c900n.2c1386
n.31472
adj.c1375v.1c1275
v.21470v.31609v.41635