ability damage if the target is stunned or bound to 40%-140% ability damage and 30% increase if the target is bound or stunned. cliché To fall into severe or total decay, degradation, or ruination, as from disuse or lack of upkeep. RuneScape and RuneScape Old School are the trademarks of Jagex Limited and are used with the permission of Jagex. Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. This might sort of make sense in some figurative uses, but rack is the standard spelling where the phrase means to think very hard.

Probably the most sensible attitude would be to ignore the etymologies of rack and wrack (which, of course, is exactly what most people do) and regard them simply as spelling variants of one word. These words originally meant utter destruction and financial ruin, rack here being a variant of wreck (it was sometimes spelled wrack, showing the close association). Wrack was originally named Torture during the Evolution of Combat beta but was renamed when the update went live. Well, the verb forms of these two words are often muddled, and here there is no easy way of distinguishing between them.This is the method that is advocated by The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, which points out that wrack is archaic, and then informs the reader that they should simply “substitute a modern synonym. Wrack [one’s] brain is so common, though, that we have no choice but to consider it an accepted variant (some dictionaries agree with this). We can think of nerve-wracking as meaning wrecking the nerves instead of torturing the nerves, in which case the spelling is perfectly justifiable.

Some other usage guides provide a way of dealing with this question that has a certain brutal charm: just stop using the word wrack.

These expressions are emphatic redundancies, since rack and wrack (which are actually variants of the same word) mean "destruction" or "ruin. The two words did come from different sources— rack is thought to be from the Middle Dutch word recken, meaning “to stretch,” and wrack comes from the Middle English word for a shipwreck, wrak—and do retain different meanings. It is often useful to use Wrack in alternation with other abilities to avoid having most basics on cooldown, though in most scenarios it is not advisable to do so because of low damage output as a result.

Rack up has several definitions, including (1) to accumulate, and (2) to prepare billiard balls for the start of a game. The one common phrase in which wrack undoubtedly makes more sense is wrack and ruin, which is just an emphatic, somewhat archaic-sounding way of saying wreckage or ruin or, in other words, great destruction. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Then you will have nothing to worry about being criticized for—except, of course, for using too many clichés.However, wrack has so often been used as a variant spelling of rack, especially when used in the phrases “(w)rack one’s brain” and “(w)racked with pain,” that many dictionaries now list it as a variant. Or is your brain sufficiently wrecked by this point that you do not distinguish between them at all? Though 'rack' and 'wrack' come from different sources, treating them as variants of the same word may be the most sensible approach.