wrackn.¹

Brit.

/rak/, U.S.

/ræk/

Forms: Old English wræc, Middle English, Scottish1500s wrak, Middle English wrac, Middle English– wrack, 1500s–1600s wracke.

Etymology: Old English wræc neuter, < preterite stem of wrecan to drive, etc., wreak v. Compare wrack n.², by which the later senses (especially sense 5) may partly have been influenced; in writers of the 16–17th cent. it is sometimes uncertain which word is intended. The evidence of rhymes shows that early northern Middle English instances of the spelling wrak usually have a long vowel, and belong to wrake n.¹

I. Senses relating to punishment, disaster, or ruin.

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. Aa5^v There gan he..With bitter wracke To wreake on me the guilt of his owne wrong.

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?

figurative.a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 49 Hath he not lost much wealth by wrack of sea?

†b. In the phrase to do (also take) wrack (on one)

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

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

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.

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. I3^v Eftsoones the others..on their foes did worke full cruell wracke .

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 vi^v What did monkes and fryeres thanne, When masse went thus to wracke?

1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. iii. sig. Piij^v 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.

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.

(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.

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. F8^v 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)

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. H2^v 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.

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!

†b. The ruin, downfall, or overthrow of a person or persons; adversity, misfortune. Obsolete.

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.

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.

†b. A means or cause of subversion, overthrow, or downfall. Obsolete.

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 .

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.

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 ?

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.

†c. A damaged or injured part; damage, impairment. Also figurative. Obsolete.

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

Brit.

/rak/, U.S.

/ræk/

Forms: Middle English, Scottish1500s–1600s wrak, Middle English Scottish wrac, 1500s–1600s wracke, 1500s– wrack (1800s Scottish vrack).

Etymology: < Middle Dutch (also modern Dutch) wrak neuter (older Flemish wracke , Kilian), or Middle Low German wrak , wrack (whence German wrack ), = Middle Danish vrak (Danish vrag ) neuter, Middle Swedish vrak (wrack , wragh ; Swedish vrak ) neuter, Norwegian dialect rak neuter, wreck, wrecked vessel, a parallel formation to Old English wræc wrack n.¹Except for its frequent use by southern writers between 1508 and 1690 (compare the note to wrack n.¹), the form is predominantly northern and Scottish.

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’.

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. a1616 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.

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.

†c. plural. Fragments of wreckage. Also figurative. Obsolete.

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. Ii1^v Who then my selfe should flie..So close vnto my selfe my wrackes doo lie.

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. 23^v 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. Pp2^v Yet being imbarqued in the same ship, the finall wrack must needs be common to them all.

1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. D3^v 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.

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.

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.

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.

† wrack-goods n. [compare Dutch wrakgoederen, German wrackgut] Scots Law Obsolete = sense 1b.

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

Brit.

/rak/, U.S.

/ræk/

Forms: Also Middle English, 1500s Scottish wrak, 1500s wracke, 1800s Scottish vrack.

Etymology: < (Middle) Low German or Dutch wrak (whence Middle High German and German dialect wrack refuse, rubbish, Danish vrag , Swedish vrak , refuse); see also wrake n.³, wreck n.², and compare wrack adj.

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.

†b. Scottish. world's wrack, earthly ‘pelf’ or ‘dross’; worldly possessions, goods, or gear. Obsolete.

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 O^r 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.

Forms: Also Middle English wrac, 1500s Scottish wrak.

Etymology: < Middle Low German wrak, wrack, Low German wrak (whence German dialect wrack worthless, Swedish vrak- , Danish vrag- ), or Middle Dutch wrac, wrak (Kilian wrack , wraeck , Dutch wrak ), Old Frisian wrak , wrac base (West Frisian wrak shaky): compare wrack n.³

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 viij^li & the roue ix^li.

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

Forms: Middle English wracken, Middle English wrak, 1500s wracke.

Etymology: Irregular variant of wreak v. Compare brack , brak , for break v.

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

Brit.

/rak/, U.S.

/ræk/

Forms: Also Middle English–1600s wracke, 1500s–1600s Scottish wrak, 1800s rack.

Etymology: < wrack n.² Compare wreck v.¹

Now archaic or dialect.

†1. intransitive. To suffer or undergo shipwreck. Obsolete.

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.

figurative and in figurative contexts.a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. C^v 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.

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. 38^v 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.

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. E3^v O! in what tempests do my fortunes saile, Still wrackt with winds more foule and contrary, Then any northen guest. 1672 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.]

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.

reflexive.1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iii. xvi. sig. N3^v That weake, and enuied if they should conspire They wracke themselues, and he hath his desire.

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.

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. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche iii. cxxxii. 36 The Precedent may dangerous prove, and wrack Thy Throne and Kingdome.

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

Etymology: < Middle Low German wracken (whence German wracken to sort), to reject, refuse, variant of wraken , wrake v.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

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

Forms: Also wrek.

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. X4^v 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).

n.¹c900

n.²c1386

n.³1472

adj.c1375

v.¹c1275

v.²1470

v.³1609

v.⁴1635

单词	wrack
释义	wrackn.¹ Brit. /rak/, U.S. /ræk/ Forms: Old English wræc, Middle English, Scottish1500s wrak, Middle English wrac, Middle English– wrack, 1500s–1600s wracke. Etymology: Old English wræc neuter, < preterite stem of wrecan to drive, etc., wreak v. Compare wrack n.², by which the later senses (especially sense 5) may partly have been influenced; in writers of the 16–17th cent. it is sometimes uncertain which word is intended. The evidence of rhymes shows that early northern Middle English instances of the spelling wrak usually have a long vowel, and belong to wrake n.¹ I. Senses relating to punishment, disaster, or ruin. 1. 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. Aa5^v 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? 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) 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. 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. I3^v 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 vi^v What did monkes and fryeres thanne, When masse went thus to wracke? 1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. iii. sig. Piij^v 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. (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. 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. F8^v 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. 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. H2^v 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! †b. The ruin, downfall, or overthrow of a person or persons; adversity, misfortune. Obsolete. 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. 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. †b. A means or cause of subversion, overthrow, or downfall. Obsolete. 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. 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. †c. A damaged or injured part; damage, impairment. Also figurative. Obsolete. 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 Brit. /rak/, U.S. /ræk/ Forms: Middle English, Scottish1500s–1600s wrak, Middle English Scottish wrac, 1500s–1600s wracke, 1500s– wrack (1800s Scottish vrack). Etymology: < Middle Dutch (also modern Dutch) wrak neuter (older Flemish wracke , Kilian), or Middle Low German wrak , wrack (whence German wrack ), = Middle Danish vrak (Danish vrag ) neuter, Middle Swedish vrak (wrack , wragh ; Swedish vrak ) neuter, Norwegian dialect rak neuter, wreck, wrecked vessel, a parallel formation to Old English wræc wrack n.¹Except for its frequent use by southern writers between 1508 and 1690 (compare the note to wrack n.¹), the form is predominantly northern and Scottish. 1. 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’. 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 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. †c. plural. Fragments of wreckage. Also figurative. Obsolete. 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. Ii1^v 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. 23^v 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. Pp2^v Yet being imbarqued in the same ship, the finall wrack must needs be common to them all. 1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus sig. D3^v 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. 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. † wrack-goods n. [compare Dutch wrakgoederen, German wrackgut] Scots Law Obsolete = sense 1b. 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 Brit. /rak/, U.S. /ræk/ Forms: Also Middle English, 1500s Scottish wrak, 1500s wracke, 1800s Scottish vrack. Etymology: < (Middle) Low German or Dutch wrak (whence Middle High German and German dialect wrack refuse, rubbish, Danish vrag , Swedish vrak , refuse); see also wrake n.³, wreck n.², and compare wrack adj. 1. 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. †b. Scottish. world's wrack, earthly ‘pelf’ or ‘dross’; worldly possessions, goods, or gear. Obsolete. 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 O^r 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. Forms: Also Middle English wrac, 1500s Scottish wrak. Etymology: < Middle Low German wrak, wrack, Low German wrak (whence German dialect wrack worthless, Swedish vrak- , Danish vrag- ), or Middle Dutch wrac, wrak (Kilian wrack , wraeck , Dutch wrak ), Old Frisian wrak , wrac base (West Frisian wrak shaky): compare wrack n.³ 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 viij^li & the roue ix^li. 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 Forms: Middle English wracken, Middle English wrak, 1500s wracke. Etymology: Irregular variant of wreak v. Compare brack , brak , for break v. 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 Brit. /rak/, U.S. /ræk/ Forms: Also Middle English–1600s wracke, 1500s–1600s Scottish wrak, 1800s rack. Etymology: < wrack n.² Compare wreck v.¹ Now archaic or dialect. †1. intransitive. To suffer or undergo shipwreck. Obsolete. 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. figurative and in figurative contexts.a1592 R. Greene Alcida (1617) sig. C^v 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. 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. 38^v 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. 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. E3^v 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.] 3. 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. reflexive.1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iii. xvi. sig. N3^v That weake, and enuied if they should conspire They wracke themselues, and he hath his desire. 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. 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. 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 Etymology: < Middle Low German wracken (whence German wracken to sort), to reject, refuse, variant of wraken , wrake v.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 Forms: Also wrek. 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. X4^v 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). < n.¹c900n.²c1386n.³1472adj.c1375v.¹c1275v.²1470v.³1609v.⁴1635
随便看	industrialized industrializes industrializing industriallooking industrially industrialness industrials industrialscale industrialsize industrialsized industrialsounding industrialstrength industrialstyle industrialtype industriate industries industrious industriously industriousness industriousnesses industrous industrously industry industry leader industry standard

wrackn.1

wrackn.2

Compounds

wrackn.3

† wrackadj.

† wrackv.1

wrackv.2

Derivatives

† wrackv.3

† wrackv.4

wrackn.¹

wrackn.²

wrackn.³

† wrackv.¹

wrackv.²

† wrackv.³

† wrackv.⁴