RACK

Rack

The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet attached to the top roller are used to very gradually stepwise increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain. By means of pulleys and levers this roller could be rotated on its own axis, thus straining the ropes until the sufferer's joints were dislocated and eventually separated. Additionally, if muscle fibres are stretched excessively, they lose their ability ...

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Rack (torture)
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rack

Noun

  1. A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other
  2. Any of various kinds of frame for holding clothes, bottles, animal fodder, mined ore, shot on a vessel, etc.
  3. A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes; called also rack block.
  4. A distaff.
  5. A bar with teeth on its face, or edge, to work with those of a wheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive or be driven by it.
  6. A device used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.
  7. A pair of antlers (as on deer, moose or elk).
  8. A cut of meat involving several adjacent ribs.
    I bought a rack of lamb at the butcher's yesterday.
  9. A hollow triangle used for aligning the balls at the start of a game.
    See 1
  10. A woman's breasts.
    You should see her rack. Her tits are amazing, and so are her mother's!
  11. A friction device for abseiling, consisting of a frame with 5 or more metal bars, around which the rope is threaded. Also rappel rack, abseil rack.
  12. A climber's set of equipment for setting up protection and belays, consisting of runners, slings, karabiners, nuts, Friends, etc.
    I used almost a full rack on the second pitch.
  13. An instrument for bending a bow.
  14. A grate on which bacon is laid.
  15. That which is extorted; exaction.

Noun (etymology 2)

  1. Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapour in the sky.

Noun (etymology 3)

  1. A fast amble.

Noun (etymology 4)

  1. A wreck; destruction.

Verb

  1. To place in or hang on a rack.
  2. To torture (someone) on the rack.
  3. To cause (someone) to suffer pain.
  4. To stretch or strain; to harass, or oppress by extortion.
  5. To put the balls into the triangular rack and set them in place on the table.
  6. To strike a male in the groin with the knee.
  7. To (manually) load (a round of ammunition) from the magazine or belt into firing position in an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.
  8. To wash (metals, ore, etc.) on a rack.
  9. To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.

Verb (etymology 2)

  1. stretch joints of a person

Verb (etymology 3)

  1. To fly, as vapour or broken clouds

Verb (etymology 4)

  1. To clarify, and thereby deter further fermentation of, beer, wine or cider by draining or siphoning it from the dregs.

Verb (etymology 5)

  1. To amble fast, causing a rocking or swaying motion of the body; to pace.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: rack
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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