rax

English

WOTD – 3 May 2010

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹæks/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Etymology 1

From Middle English raxen, rasken (“to stretch oneself”), from Old English raxan, racsan (“to stretch oneself after sleep”), probably alteration, with formative s, of Old English rǣċan, ræċċan, reċċan (“to stretch, extend”), from Proto-Germanic *rakjaną (“to stretch”), from Proto-Indo-European *reǵ- (“to make straight”). Related to Dutch rekken (“to stretch”), German recken (“to stretch”), Swedish räcka (“to suffice, reach, pass, last”).

Verb

rax (third-person singular simple present raxes, present participle raxing, simple past and past participle raxed)

1. (UK, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To stretch; stretch out.
   • 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:

     Shoeless, he stood naked on his toes, his arms raxed upwards.

2. (UK, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To reach out; reach or attain to.
3. (UK, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To extend the hand to; hand or pass something.

   Please rax me the pitcher.

   • 1825, John Wilson, Robert Shelton Mackenzie, James Hogg, William Maginn and John Gibson Lockhart, Noctes Ambrosianæ No. XVIII, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 17:

     Wha the mischief set him on reading me? I'm sure he could never read onything in a dacent-like way since he was cleckit—rax me the Queen, and I'll let you hear a bit that will gar your hearts dinnle again—rax me the Queen, I say.

4. (UK, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, intransitive) To perform the act of reaching or stretching; stretch oneself; reach for or try to obtain something
5. (UK, dialectal, chiefly Scotland, intransitive) To stretch after sleep.

Derived terms

• outrax

Related terms

• raxle

Translations

to stretch, stretch out

• Finnish: ojentaa (fi)

to reach out; reach or attain to

to hand or pass something

• Finnish: ojentaa (fi), antaa (fi)
• French: tendre (fr)
• Italian: tendere (it)
• Spanish: alargar (es)

to reach for or try to obtain something

• Finnish: kurkottaa

to stretch after sleep

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 伸展 (zh) (shēnzhǎn)

• Dutch: uitrekken (nl)
• Finnish: venytellä (fi)
• French: s'étirer (fr), étendre ses membres
• German: sich recken
• Italian: stirarsi (it), stiracchiarsi
• Japanese: 伸ばす (ja) (のばす, nobasu)
• Russian: потя́гиваться (ru) impf (potjágivatʹsja), потяну́ться (ru) pf (potjanútʹsja)
• Spanish: estirarse (es), desperezarse (es)

Etymology 2

Shortening of barracks.

Noun

rax (plural rax or raxes)

1. (video game slang) barracks
   • 2014 March 19, Free to Play, 44:28:

     Eventually they just broke our base and took out every single one of our raxes.

Anagrams

• AXR, XAR

K'iche'

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *ra7x.

Adjective

rax

1. green

Kaqchikel

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *ra7x.

Adjective

rax

1. green

Poqomam

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *ra7x.

Adjective

rax

1. green

Q'eqchi

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *ra7x.

Adjective

rax

1. green