put on the rack

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And they would profit by Connecticut's disgrace and correct the abuses before they could be put on the rack.

From A Mind That Found Itself An Autobiography by Beers, Clifford Whittingham

Our mathematical imagination is put on the rack by an attempted conception that has all the anguish of a nightmare and probably, could we but awake, all its laughable absurdity.

From The Sense of Beauty Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory by Santayana, George

Mr. Pickwick himself might have been called and put on the rack, this incident not concerning his breach of promise. 

From Bardell v. Pickwick by Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington

I was the most despised, forlorn man on earth; and when thus put on the rack, had I there expired, my epitaph would have been, “Here lies the traitor, Trenck.”

From The Life and Adventures of Baron Trenck, Volume 2 by Holcroft, Thomas

He was already accustomed to being put on the rack by various whims and wild ideas suggested by his promised bride, that had no substantial basis, however, and were never to be taken seriously.

From 'Clear the Track' A Story of To-day by Elisabeth Buerstenbinder (AKA E. Werner)