ENGLISH
REFERENCE

rack and ruin

idiom
Meaning

Complete destruction.

Origin

first recorded 16th c.

1599, variant of wrack and ruin.

Examples
SIMPLE

The old house is falling into rack and ruin.

CONTEXTUAL

After years of neglect, the once beautiful garden has fallen into rack and ruin.

COMPLEX

The once prosperous estate, left untended for decades, eventually collapsed into a state of total rack and ruin.

Anchors to
Related idioms4entries
  1. 01

    at rack and manger

    plentifully and at another's expense.

  2. 02

    meat rack

    A place where people can meet looking for sexual partners.

  3. 03

    rack up

    To gain (points etc.; in a game or sport), to accumulate.

  4. 04

    wrack and ruin

    Complete destruction.

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