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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

wrack.

The remains of something; a wreck.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɹæk/
  1. The remains of something; a wreck.

  2. Vengeance; revenge; persecution; punishment; consequence; trouble.

    UK · archaic · dialectal · literary
  3. Ruin; destruction.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wrake, wrache, wreche, from a merger of Old English wracu, wræc (“misery, suffering”) and Old English wrǣċ (“vengeance, revenge”). See also wrake.

verb/ɹæk/
  1. To execute vengeance on; avenge.

    UK · dialectal · transitive
  2. To worry; tease; torment.

    UK · dialectal · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wrake, wrache, wreche, from a merger of Old English wracu, wræc (“misery, suffering”) and Old English wrǣċ (“vengeance, revenge”). See also wrake.

noun/ɹæk/
  1. Remnant from a shipwreck as washed ashore; flotsam or jetsam.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  2. The right to claim such items.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  3. Any marine vegetation cast up on shore, especially seaweed of the family Fucaceae.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Weeds, vegetation, or rubbish floating on a river or pond.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A high, flying cloud; a rack.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ɹæk/
  1. To wreck, especially a ship.

    transitive
  2. Alternative form of rack (“to cause to suffer pain, etc.”).

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.