Meaning & use
racked up
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Meanings
verbphrasal verb
accumulated or collected a large amount of something, such as points, wins, money, or debt.
Grammar: Used as the past tense or past participle of 'rack up'; the object usually comes after 'up': racked up ten wins.
Patterns
- rack up something
- rack something up
- rack up points/wins/debts
The team racked up twelve victories before losing a single game.
By December she had racked up thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
He racked up more air miles last year than anyone else in the company.
verbphrasal verb
caused someone to suffer or gain a particular total, especially damage or penalties.
Grammar: Often used in passive or perfect structures with a quantity: the storm racked up $2 million in damage.
Patterns
- rack up costs/damage/penalties
- rack up a bill
The storm racked up millions in repair costs along the coast.
Repeated delays racked up heavy penalties for the contractor.
Word forms
| base form | rack up |
|---|---|
| third person singular | racks up |
| present participle | racking up |
| past tense | racked up |
| past participle | racked up |
Common combinations
- rack up points
- Players rack up points by answering quickly.
- rack up wins
- The young boxer racked up wins across three countries.
- rack up debt
- It is easy to rack up debt when you shop online.
- rack up a bill
- They racked up a huge bill at the hotel bar.
- rack up miles
- Frequent flyers rack up miles on every trip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accumulate
- More formal and neutral; it can describe things building up on their own, while 'rack up' stresses a person or team actively gaining a total.
- amass
- Sounds formal and often refers to wealth or collections; 'rack up' is more informal and common in sport and money talk.
- run up
- Very close in meaning for debts or bills, but 'run up' is used less for points and victories.
Opposites
Word family
- rack verb
- to put something on a rack, or (informal) to gain something steadily.
Commonly confused: racked up or wracked?
racked up vs wracked
'Wracked' means tormented or severely affected, as in 'wracked with guilt'. 'Racked up' is about collecting or gaining an amount.
Practice
By the end of the season, the striker had ______ up 30 goals.
Choose one answer.
'Had racked up' is the past perfect, so the past participle 'racked' is needed. 'Rack' and 'racks' do not fit after 'had', and 'racking' would need a form of 'be'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “racked up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.