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Glite Dictionary
📈 To collect a lot 🎱 To arrange balls
to rack up

to rack up

1 4.8
To put the pool balls in a triangle before the game
  • phrasal verb
  • /ræk ʌp/
translation icon : colocar las bolas en el triángulo
  • However, there will be a revolt within the Republican leadership as the Tea Party's influence is marginalized, and there will be an effort to rack up a few legislative accomplishments to highlight some of the Republican rising stars in preparation for the next presidential race.

Examples

  • Self-taught Italian artist Diego Fazio, who goes by DiegoKoi on his DeviantArt page, is racking up major Google points as we speak.

    Blog text (26)

  • Rack up your cue.

    The Hustler (1961)

  • You should rack up the ten kills fairly quickly.

    Blog text (31)

  • The guy racks up the balls.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Engraved: Rack up kills on all enemy snipers in the cemetery without being shot.

    Blog text (31)

  • Alitalia is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, so you can credit all of your flights to Delta if you are looking to rack up some extra Medallion Qualifying Miles as well.

    Blog text (10)

  • Once you've got a grip on the game (say, after a few evenings of play), you can rack up cert points very quickly (you'd have no problem unlocking a tier one scope in under an hour).

    Blog text (10)

  • The players gathered around the table as the bartender began to rack up the balls for the next game.

  • Before we start playing, please rack up the billiard balls in the triangle.

  • After winning the last match, he had to rack up the balls again for the new round.

Synonyms

to set up
vsto rack up
983 2.7

To assemble and prepare equipment or objects so they are ready to use

is specific to preparing game balls into a frame before play
to rack
vsto rack up
23 4.0

To place items neatly on a stand or frame

is the phrasal form used for the same preparation action
to rerack
vsto rack up
  • Jargon
6.1

To put balls or items back on a rack in their starting position

refers to arranging balls at the start rather than putting them back
to line up one's ducks
vsto rack up
  • Informal
8.4

Make things ready in the right order before you need them

is narrowly about setting balls into a frame for play rather than general organization

Surface Forms

rack up infinitive
racked up past
racked up past participle
racking up present participle
racks up third person singular

Morphology

rack + up

The meaning 'to arrange/place into a rack' is directly derivable from 'rack' (to set or arrange items into a rack) combined with the particle 'up' signalling placement or completion. This verb+particle composition is a common, predictable pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Rack up in pool is very literal: players put the balls into a wooden rack and lift them up to make the shape before the break. That's why it means 'to arrange or place the balls' before play.