![]() ![]() Sign up for the Dot and Dash newsletter to get writing tips and tricks and exclusive deals. They are only one letter off.Įrin Servais is the founder of Dot and Dash, LLC, an author-services company focusing on women writers and offering a range of editing, coaching, and social media packages. To remember the difference between rack and wrack think: wrack = wreck. This is why some dictionaries, such as Merriam-Webster, are advocating for using the words interchangeably and treating them as spelling variants. It’s true that rack and wrack have very similar uses. This idea of torturing is why we use rack instead of wrack.Įxample: I found studying for my chemistry final nerve-racking. Something that is nerve-racking tortures your nerves. This idea of stretching is why we use rack instead of wrack.Įxample: I really racked my brain studying for my chemistry final. When you rack your brain, you are thinking really hard, stretching your brain’s capabilities. Now let’s go over a couple common phrases using one of these words. Wrack comes from a word meaning “to be shipwrecked.” Both of these words have pretty gloomy origins, don’t they? Wrack as a verb means “to wreck or ruin something.”Įxample: They sat back as they watched pollution wrack their planet. And when we use it, we signify torturing, especially stretching. Sounds like fun times.Īnyway, that’s where we get this usage of rack. When a person was placed on the rack, the torturer would crank the device, stretching the person’s limbs until they dislocated them. Have you ever heard of the medieval torture device called the rack? It was a wooden frame with a crank attached to it. Rack as a verb means “to torture or cause great suffering.” Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn November 1st 1981, Wrack My Brain by Ringo Starr entered Billboards Hot Top 100 chart at position 79 and five weeks later on. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet the way it was at the end of Friday’s practice session for the New Hampshire 301, Johnson would’ve spent hours wracking his brain to figure out what the issue was.What’s the difference between rack and wrack? Let’s take a look at their definitions, how to use them in popular phrases, and a mnemonic device to help you remember which is which. In his younger days, if there was something so noticeably off about Jimmie Johnson’s No. ![]() Senior Daniel Ochefu racked his brain trying to think of all the suits he’s seen over the past four years, coming to the conclusion he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Wright wear the same suit twice. When asked what he used to perform the abortion, the suspect who unsuccessfully racked his brain to recall the name of drugs he administered, said he just gave her some pills. I racked my brain trying to remember a friend’s phone number after having lost my phone but failed. She is going to a hill station with her family a week before. Do not rack your brain trying to plan for her birthday party. So authoritative is the position of therapist that I had to rack my brain a moment before I could confidently say “no”. The detective kept racking his brain to solve the mystery when his eyes got stuck at the evidence kept on the table. “I was trying to rack my brain for something extra special to do and suddenly a song came on the radio and I had an idea,” Lind said. The album includes the hit single 'Wrack My Brain', written and produced by George Harrison, but otherwise failed to find commercial success. Released in October 1981, it followed the twin commercial failures of Ringo the 4th (1977) and Bad Boy (1978). The Oxford English Dictionary accepts the alternative spelling wrack one’s brain, but considering the etymology of the phrase, most writers consider rack one’s brain to be the correct spelling. However, according to Oxford dictionary online, it's either:PHRASES rack (or wrack) one's brains make a great mental effort. Stop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by English rock musician Ringo Starr. In some cases, the plural form of brain is used, as in rack one’s brains. Rack and wrack in phrases such as (w)rack ones brain have been used interchangeably so frequently that either spelling is fine to use. Related terms are racks one’s brain, racked one’s brain, racking one’s brain. When the Medieval torture device known as the rack came into use, then the meaning of the word rack expanded to denote suffering or causing harm, as well as the original meaning, to stretch out. ![]() The word rack comes from the Old English word recken, meaning to stretch out. The term rack one’s brain dates back to the 1600s. To rack one’s brain means to strain mightily to think of something or remember something. ![]()
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