as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful
a racking cough kept him awake all night
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to
the young man was racked with guilt over the lie he had told to his parents the country has been racked by years of civil war
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pulling
to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure
she racked her brain trying to remember where she'd put the money the sails of the boat were racked by the storm's winds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of racking
Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 4 Feb. 2026
He was accused of taking his gun out of his holster, racking the gun and pointing it at both people.
—Jeff A. Chamer
december 11, Charlotte Observer, 11 Dec. 2025
The machines autonomously lifted and placed panels onto racking structures, at the Goorambat East site, located near the city of Benalla, approximately 130 miles northeast of Melbourne.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
But after racking just two flags through the first half's first 29 minutes, a critical pass-interference penalty in the final seconds moved Kansas City into position to kick a go-ahead field goal and provide the 9-6 halftime margin.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
Then came the rise of racking systems, e-commerce fulfillment and the drive for cubic efficiency.
—Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 20 Sep. 2025
The Wiggles are a powerhouse, racking-up more than 30 million sales of albums and DVDs, and upwards of 8 million book sales.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
On the small screen, the influencer Gabriella Carr recently drew her sizable flock to a rejection spreadsheet, where the video creator and actress means to track all her professional door-slams with an eye to racking ’em up.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 4 Feb. 2026
He was accused of taking his gun out of his holster, racking the gun and pointing it at both people.
—Jeff A. Chamer
december 11, Charlotte Observer, 11 Dec. 2025
The machines autonomously lifted and placed panels onto racking structures, at the Goorambat East site, located near the city of Benalla, approximately 130 miles northeast of Melbourne.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
But after racking just two flags through the first half's first 29 minutes, a critical pass-interference penalty in the final seconds moved Kansas City into position to kick a go-ahead field goal and provide the 9-6 halftime margin.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 22 Sep. 2025
Then came the rise of racking systems, e-commerce fulfillment and the drive for cubic efficiency.
—Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 20 Sep. 2025
The Wiggles are a powerhouse, racking-up more than 30 million sales of albums and DVDs, and upwards of 8 million book sales.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racking
Adjective
-
These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
-
What's going on is absolutely heart-wrenching.—
Kiki Intarasuwan,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The Bureau of Engineering selected Tetra Tech, a global engineering firm, to fortify and relight the stretch of road that connects downtown Los Angeles to Boyle Heights, which has essentially gone dark due to the amount of copper theft plaguing the area.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The decibel drama proved, intentionally or not, to be a deflection from the far more pressing issues plaguing the UConn men’s basketball team at the moment, despite a 24-3 record for which most any Huskies fan would have signed on the dotted line when the season began.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Scheller, well-respected in Central Florida’s legal community, has been pulling together a team of attorneys willing to represent pro bono migrants detained locally.—
Cristóbal Reyes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Venero was seen dressed entirely in black and pulling a black and red Husky rolling tool bag.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But the overlap with unusually frigid temperatures afflicting Florida's Space Coast and the rest of the country have turned Crew-12's launch opportunities into an intricate dance around Artemis 2.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Their bread-and-butter is comforting the most comfortable by afflicting the most afflicted.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Like many founders before me, the decision was agonizing.—
David Yi,
Allure,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Instead, the child was taken by ambulance to a facility in Miami owned by the same company and was operated on four agonizing days later.—
Arthur E. Palamara,
Sun Sentinel,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But so often left unsaid by Gu are the moral ambiguities that come with choosing to represent a country that has been heavily criticized by Human Rights Watch, among other watchdog groups, for denying rights of freedom of expression and for persecuting government critics.—
Zak Keefer,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Troops are occupying our cities and persecuting our people.—
Maria Guinnip,
Oklahoman,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
After a torturous 2025 season that featured one of the worst team pitching performances in major league history, the pitching think tank was overhauled.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Every year many Christians are arrested and imprisoned under torturous conditions for practicing their right to religious freedom, where a simple act like praying together in house-churches seems like an act of civil disobedience.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
According to court records, Quero Silva is defending himself against the new federal lawsuit accusing him of torturing the protestors in Barquisimeto.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Yorgos Lanthimos, Florian Zeller and Juliette Binoche are among more than 800 film professionals who have signed a joint statement condemning the Iranian government for killing and torturing its own people.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racking. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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