rack /ræk/► SEE ALLgo to rack and ruin on the rackrack your brainsoff the peg ●go to ˌrack and ˈruinget into bad condition because of lack of care（因缺乏照料而）变得一团糟，到不堪设想的地步◆The house has gone to rack and ruin over the last few years. 过去几年里这所房子变得破旧不堪。◆The country is going to rack and ruin under this government. 在这届政府的统治下，国家的状况变得越来越糟。NOTERack in this idiom means ‘destruction’.这个习语中的 rack 意为“毁灭”。● on the ˈrackin a state of anxiety, stress, pain, etc.极度焦虑；非常紧张；十分痛苦◆After three weeks had passed and she had still not heard from her daughter, Joan was on the rack. 三个星期过去了，琼还是没收到女儿的信，她急得快发疯了。ORIGINThe rack was an instrument of torture, used in the past for punishing and hurting people. Their arms and legs were tied to a wooden frame and then pulled in opposite directions, stretching the body. * rack （肢刑架）是旧时刑具，施刑时将人的四肢绑在木架上，向不同的方向拉拽受刑者的身体。●rack your ˈbrains ( wrack your ˈbrainsless frequent) (informal) try very hard to think of sth or remember sth绞尽脑汁；冥思苦想◆I’ve been racking my brains all day trying to remember his name. 我一整天都绞尽脑汁，想要回忆起他的名字。●ˌoff the ˈpeg (BrE) (NAmEˌoff the ˈrack) (of a suit, etc.套装等) ready to wear; not made specially to fit one person成品的；现成的；非定做的◆He couldn’t afford a made-to-measure suit, so he bought one off the peg.他没钱量体定做西服，因此只好买成衣。