From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishon the rackon the rackSUFFER British English informal in a very difficult situation The company is now well and truly on the rack. → rack
Examples from the Corpus
on the rack• I'd put the bike on the rack at the back and secured it with a bungy strap.• His characteristic attitude is one of close scrutiny and interrogation; he puts his documents on the rack, as it were.• It smelt of camphor as if the old clothes hanging on the racks had just been taken out of ancient chests.• There were only face towels left on the rack.• When the fire is hot, lay the mushrooms on the rack.• The pound, however, was still on the rack.• He himself was beginning to ache as though stretched on the rack, with the worst still to come.• When the Babbel incident blew up, Liverpool really were on the rack. 