Rack vs. Crack — What's the Difference?

A framework, typically with rails, bars, hooks, or pegs, for holding or storing things

To break without complete separation of parts

A cogged or toothed bar or rail engaging with a wheel or pinion, or using pegs to adjust the position of something

To break or snap apart

An instrument of torture consisting of a frame on which the victim was stretched by turning rollers to which the wrists and ankles were tied.

To make a sharp snapping sound

A triangular structure for positioning the balls in pool.

To break down; fail

A woman's breasts

To have a mental or physical breakdown

A set of antlers

To change sharply in pitch or timbre, as from hoarseness or emotion. Used of the voice.

A bed.

To move or go rapidly

A horse's gait in which both hoofs on either side in turn are lifted almost simultaneously, and all four hoofs are off the ground together at certain moments.

(Chemistry) To break into simpler molecules, often by means of heat or a catalyst.

A mass of high, thick, fast-moving clouds

To cause to break without complete separation of parts

A joint of meat, typically lamb, that includes the front ribs.

To cause to break with a sharp snapping sound

Cause extreme pain, anguish, or distress to

To crush (corn or wheat, for example) into small pieces.

Place in or on a rack

To strike, especially with a sharp sound

Move by a rack and pinion.

To cause to come into forceful contact with something, especially with a sharp sound

Raise (rent) above a fair or normal amount.

To open to a slight extent

(of a horse) move with a rack gait.

To break open or into

Go away

To open up for use or consumption

(of a cloud) be driven before the wind

To break through (an obstacle) in order to win acceptance or acknowledgment

Draw off (wine, beer, etc.) from the sediment in the barrel

To discover the solution to, especially after considerable effort

A framework or stand in or on which to hold, hang, or display various articles

To cause (the voice) to crack.

(Games) A triangular frame for arranging billiard or pool balls at the start of a game.

(Informal) To tell (a joke), especially on impulse or in an effective manner.

A receptacle for livestock feed.

To cause to have a mental or physical breakdown.

A frame for holding bombs in an aircraft.

To impair or destroy

A bunk or bed.

To reduce (petroleum) to simpler compounds by cracking.

Sleep

A partial split or break; a fissure

A toothed bar that meshes with a gearwheel, pinion, or other toothed machine part.

A slight narrow space

A state of intense anguish.

(Informal) The fissure between the buttocks.

A cause of intense anguish.

A defect or flaw

An instrument of torture on which the victim's body was stretched.

A sharp snapping sound, such as the report of a firearm.

A pair of antlers.

A sharp resounding blow

Vulgar Slang A woman's breasts.

A breaking, harshly dissonant vocal tone or sound, as in hoarseness.

A fast, flashy, four-beat gait of a horse in which each foot touches the ground separately and at equal intervals.

An attempt or try

A thin mass of wind-driven clouds.

A witty or sarcastic remark.

Variant of wrack1.

A moment; an instant

Variant of wrack2.

(Irish) Fun had when socializing; social amusement.

A wholesale rib cut of lamb or veal between the shoulder and the loin.

(Slang) Crack cocaine.

A retail rib cut of lamb or veal, prepared for roasting or for rib chops.

Excelling in skill or achievement; first-rate

The neck and upper spine of mutton, pork, or veal.

(intransitive) To form cracks.

To place (billiard balls, for example) in a rack.

(intransitive) To break apart under force, stress, or pressure.

Also wrack To cause great physical or mental suffering to

(intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

To torture by means of the rack.

(intransitive) To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.

To go or move at a rack.

(intransitive) To make a cracking sound.

To drain (wine or cider) from the dregs.

To change rapidly in register.

A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other

To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

Any of various kinds of frame for holding luggage or other objects on a vehicle or vessel.

(intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.

(historical) A device, incorporating a ratchet, used to torture victims by stretching them beyond their natural limits.

To realize that one is transgender.

(nautical) A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes.

(transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.

A bunk.

(transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

Sleep.

(transitive) To strike forcefully.

A distaff.

(transitive) To open slightly.

A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with those of a gearwheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive or be driven by it.

To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure.

(mechanical engineering) A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with a pawl as a ratchet allowing movement in one direction only, used for example in a handbrake or crossbow.

To solve a difficult problem.

A cranequin, a mechanism including a rack, pinion and pawl, providing both mechanical advantage and a ratchet, used to bend and cock a crossbow.

(transitive) To overcome a security system or component.

A set of antlers (as on deer, moose or elk).

(transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.

A cut of meat involving several adjacent ribs.

(transitive) To tell (a joke).

A hollow triangle used for aligning the balls at the start of a game.

To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

A woman's breasts.

To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

A friction device for abseiling, consisting of a frame with five or more metal bars, around which the rope is threaded.

To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

A climber's set of equipment for setting up protection and belays, consisting of runners, slings, carabiners, nuts, Friends, etc.

(obsolete) To brag; to boast.

A grate on which bacon is laid.

To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

(algebra) A set with a distributive binary operation whose result is unique.

(colloquial) To barely reach, attain to (a measurement, extent).

A thousand pounds (£1,000), especially if proceeds of crime

A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

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

A narrow opening.

A fast amble.

A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

(obsolete) A wreck; destruction.

(slang) Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.

To place in or hang on a rack.

Something good-tasting or habit-forming.

To torture (someone) on the rack.

(onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

To cause (someone) to suffer pain.

(onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.

(figurative) To stretch or strain; to harass, or oppress by extortion.

A sharp, resounding blow.

To put the balls into the triangular rack and set them in place on the table.

(informal) An attempt at something.

To strike in the testicles.

Vagina.

(firearms) To (manually) load (a round of ammunition) from the magazine or belt into firing position in an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.

(informal) The space between the buttocks.

(firearms) To move the slide bar on a shotgun in order to chamber the next round.

Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.

(mining) To wash (metals, ore, etc.) on a rack.

Business; events; news.

(nautical) To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.

(computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.

(structural engineering) To tend to shear a structure (that is, force it to bend, lean, or move in different directions at different points).

An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.A nuclear explosion in shallow water; the crack is clearly visible on the water's surface.

To drive; move; go forward rapidly; stir.

A meaningful chat.

To fly, as vapour or broken clouds.

(Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.

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

The tone of voice when changed at puberty.

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

(archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.

Same as Arrack.

(archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.

The neck and spine of a fore quarter of veal or mutton.

(obsolete) A boast; boasting.

A wreck; destruction.

(obsolete) Breach of chastity.

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

(obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.

A fast amble.

A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.

An instrument or frame used for stretching, extending, retaining, or displaying, something.

(obsolete) One who excels; the best.

An instrument for bending a bow.

Highly trained and competent.

A bar with teeth on its face, or edge, to work with those of a wheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive it or be driven by it.

Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.

That which is extorted; exaction.

To break or burst, with or without entire separation of the parts; as, to crack glass; to crack nuts.

To fly, as vapor or broken clouds.

To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze.

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

To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip.

To draw off from the lees or sediment, as wine.

To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke.

To extend by the application of force; to stretch or strain; specifically, to stretch on the rack or wheel; to torture by an engine which strains the limbs and pulls the joints.

To cry up; to extol; - followed by up.

To torment; to torture; to affect with extreme pain or anguish.

To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts.

To stretch or strain, in a figurative sense; hence, to harass, or oppress by extortion.

To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

To wash on a rack, as metals or ore.

To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound.

To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.

To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; - with of.

Framework for holding objects

A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass.

Rib section of a forequarter of veal or pork or especially lamb or mutton

Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense.

The destruction or collapse of something;

A sharp, sudden sound or report; the sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack of a whip.

An instrument of torture that stretches or disjoints or mutilates victims

The tone of voice when changed at puberty.

A support for displaying various articles;

Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack.

A rapid gait of a horse in which each foot strikes the ground separately

A crazy or crack-brained person.

Go at a rack;

A boast; boasting.

Stretch to the limits;

Breach of chastity.

Put on a rack and pinion;

A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.

Obtain by coercion or intimidation;

A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack.

Run before a gale

Free conversation; friendly chat.

Fly in high wind

A witty remark; a wisecrack.

Draw off from the lees;

A chance or opportunity to do something; an attempt; as, I'll take a crack at it.

Torment emotionally or mentally

A form of cocaine, highly purified and prepared as small pellets, especially suitable for smoking; - also called rock. Used in this form it appears to be more addicting than cocaine powder.

Work on a rack;

Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of; as, a crack shot.

Seize together, as of parallel ropes of a tackle in order to prevent running through the block

A long narrow opening

Torture on the rack

A narrow opening;

A long narrow depression in a surface

A sudden sharp noise;

A chance to do something;

Witty remark

A blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts;

A purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted

A usually brief attempt;

The act of cracking something

Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only;

Make a very sharp explosive sound;

Make a sharp sound;

Hit forcefully; deal a hard blow, making a cracking noise;

Pass through (a barrier);

Break partially but keep its integrity;

Break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension;

Suffer a nervous breakdown

Tell spontaneously;

Cause to become cracked;

Reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking

Break into simpler molecules by means of heat;

Of the highest quality;