Browse all

rack out

C1 slang intransitive
In simple words

To go to bed and sleep, especially in a military setting where beds are called racks.

Literal meaning: To stretch out on a rack (bunk) — to lie flat on one's bed.

Meanings

1 C1 idiomatic slang

To go to sleep, especially in a military context by lying down on a rack (bunk).

"After the eighteen-hour exercise, the soldiers were told they could rack out for four hours before the next briefing."

Usage notes

Originates in military, especially US Navy and Marine Corps slang, where a bunk or bed is called a 'rack.' 'Racking out' means going to sleep on one's rack. Now sometimes used more broadly in informal American English to mean sleeping or napping. Rarely used outside military contexts or communities familiar with military vocabulary.

Commonly used with

bunk barracks nap exhausted early immediately

Forms

Base
rack out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
racks out
he/she/it
Past simple
racked out
yesterday
Past participle
racked out
have + pp
-ing form
racking out
continuous

Understand "rack out" better

Try:

Real video examples

Video examples are being collected. Check back soon.

Want to master this phrasal verb?

Practice "rack out" on Looplines