The spelling ‘rack’ is now used in all senses except for the seaweed called wrack. So it’s “rack and ruin,” … “racking my brains,” and so on. Some other usage guides provide a way of dealing with this question that has a certain brutal charm: just stop using the word wrack.

How do you spell wrack my brain?

Wracking My Brain. There’s one other common phrase that causes the same level of confusion: racking (one’s) brain. The correct and original spelling is racking my brain. But the variant wracking my brain has become so well established by now that only strict traditionalists consider it a mistake.

What is the difference between wrack and rack?

As a verb, rack means to torture or cause great suffering, or to place (something) in or on a rack. The verb wrack means to wreck or cause the ruin of something. As a noun, rack means a frame, a shelf, an instrument of torture, or a state of intense anguish. The noun wrack means destruction or wreckage.

What does wrack mean in slang?

transitive verb. : to utterly ruin : wreck. wrack.

What does rack up mean in slang?

: achieve, gain racked up their 10th victory.

What does racks on his head mean?

to think very hard: I’ve been racking my brains all day but I can’t remember her name. Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples. to think carefully about something. considerDon’t make any decisions before you’ve considered the matter.

What does wracked with guilt mean?

Suffering from, preoccupied by, or paralyzed with an intense and overwhelming feeling of guilt.

What does my cup of tea mean?

Definition of someone’s cup of tea

: something that someone likes or is good at —usually used in negative statements I’m afraid that skiing just is not my cup of tea. She admits that stamp collecting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

What does up the creek without a paddle mean?

In trouble, in a serious predicament, as in If the check doesn’t arrive today I’m up a creek, or The car wouldn’t start, so I was up the creek without a paddle. This slangy idiom conjures up the image of a stranded canoeist with no way of moving (paddling) the canoe. President Harry S.

What does racked it mean?

verb (1) racked; racking; racks. Definition of rack (Entry 2 of 9) transitive verb. 1 : to cause to suffer torture, pain, anguish, or ruin.

What is getting racked?

verb (used with object) to torture; distress acutely; torment: His body was racked with pain. to strain in mental effort: to rack one’s brains.

What does rack off mean?

(intr, adverb; usually imperative) Australian and NZ slang to go away; depart.

What does it mean to be neck deep?

Definition of neck-deep

1 : reaching as high as one’s neck She stood in neck-deep water. 2 : standing in something that reaches to one’s neck —usually + in She was neck-deep in water. —often used figuratively We were neck-deep in work. neck-deep.