wrack
noun
- act or process of causing the ruin of
verb
- to cause the ruin of
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɹæk/
noun
Etymology: Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch wrak, ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *wrekaną (“to drive out”), the source of wreak and wreck. Doublet of vraic. Cognate with German Wrack, Old Norse rek, Danish vrag, Swedish vrak, Old English wræc); also compare Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan), 𐍅𐍂𐌰𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wrakjan, “persecute”), Old Norse reka (“drive”).
- Remnant from a shipwreck as washed ashore; flotsam or jetsam.
- The right to claim such items.
- Any marine vegetation cast up on shore, especially seaweed of the family Fucaceae.
- Weeds, vegetation, or rubbish floating on a river or pond.
- A high, flying cloud; a rack.
“A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of the clouds.”
verb
Etymology: Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch wrak, ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *wrekaną (“to drive out”), the source of wreak and wreck. Doublet of vraic. Cognate with German Wrack, Old Norse rek, Danish vrag, Swedish vrak, Old English wræc); also compare Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan), 𐍅𐍂𐌰𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wrakjan, “persecute”), Old Norse reka (“drive”).
- To wreck, especially a ship.
“Nor did the croakers have long to wait. The second night after the drowning of the mate the little yacht was suddenly wracked from stem to stern. About one o’clock in the morning there was a terrific impact that threw the slumbering guests and crew from berth and bunk. A mighty shudder ran through the frail craft; she lay far over to starboard; the engines stopped.”
- Alternative form of rack (“to cause to suffer pain, etc.”).
“It marked her first performance in over four years after revealing that her body had been wracked with painful spasms following her diagnosis with the rare and chronic neurological disorder.”