rack

go to rack and ruin gradually deteriorate in condition because of neglect; fall into disrepair.

☞ Rack is a variant spelling of the word wrack, meaning 'destruction', but it is the standard one in this expression, which has been in use since the late 16th century.

2010Guardian Now that the serfs have been emancipated, the estates are going to rack and ruin. Apparently they want something called 'wages'.

off the rack: see off the peg atpeg.

on the rack suffering intense distress or strain.

rack your brains (or brain) make a great effort to think of or remember something.

☞ A rack was a medieval instrument of torture consisting of a frame on which a victim was stretched by turning rollers to which their wrists and ankles were tied. To rack someone was to torture them on this device and the image in this idiom is of subjecting one's brains to a similar ordeal in the effort to remember something.

2011Guardian So come on, rack your brains, delve into your record collections (or your iTunes libraries: yes, I've heard how you people operate) and tell us the best songs about gossip.