Rack, an instrument of torture; consisted of an oblong wooden frame, fitted with cords and levers, by means of which the victim's limbs were racked to the point of dislocation; dates back to Roman times, and was used against the early Christians; much resorted to by the Spanish Inquisition, and also at times by the Tudor monarchs of England, though subsequently prohibited by law in England.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Racine, Jean * Radcliffe