racket
1 Americannoun
-
a loud noise or clamor, especially of a disturbing or confusing kind; din; uproar.
The traffic made a terrible racket in the street below.
- Synonyms:
- outcry, tumult, disturbance, cacophony
- Antonyms:
- tranquility, stillness, calm, quiet
-
social excitement, gaiety, or dissipation.
- Antonyms:
- tranquility, stillness, calm, quiet
-
an organized illegal activity, such as bootlegging or the extortion of money from legitimate business people by threat or violence.
-
a dishonest scheme, trick, business, activity, etc..
the latest weight-reducing racket.
-
Usually the rackets organized illegal activities.
Some say that the revenue from legalized gambling supports the rackets.
-
Slang.
-
an occupation, livelihood, or business.
-
an easy or profitable source of livelihood.
-
verb (used without object)
-
to make a racket or noise.
-
to take part in social gaiety or dissipation.
noun
-
a light bat having a netting of catgut or nylon stretched in a more or less oval frame and used for striking the ball in tennis, the shuttlecock in badminton, etc.
-
the short-handled paddle used to strike the ball in table tennis.
-
(used with a singular verb) rackets, racquet.
-
a snowshoe made in the form of a tennis racket.
noun
-
a noisy disturbance or loud commotion; clamour; din
-
gay or excited revelry, dissipation, etc
-
an illegal enterprise carried on for profit, such as extortion, fraud, prostitution, drug peddling, etc
-
slang a business or occupation
what's your racket?
-
music
-
a medieval woodwind instrument of deep bass pitch
-
a reed stop on an organ of deep bass pitch
-
verb
noun
-
a bat consisting of an open network of nylon or other strings stretched in an oval frame with a handle, used to strike the ball in tennis, badminton, etc
-
a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket
verb
Related Words
See noise.
Other Word Forms
- racketlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of racket1
First recorded in 1555–65; 1890–95 racket 1 for def. 6; by transposition of dialectal rattick; rattle 1
Origin of racket2
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English raket, a term for a kind of handball, from Middle French raquette, rachette “palm (of the hand)”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Arabic rāḥet, variant of rāḥat (al-yad) “palm (of the hand)”
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.
He previously noted that the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics were a “guiding star” for his retirement, insinuating that he would likely hang up his racket following the games.
From MarketWatch
Alcaraz is fabulous theater, one of the most entertaining players to ever pick up a racket, but that was always the thing with Carlos and Juanki.
She balked at the idea of a traditional burial, calling caskets and tombstones “a racket.”
From Salon
“I told him, ‘The film is about the birth of things, the birth of an idea, the birth of a racket but also the birth of a racket, like a hustle.
From Los Angeles Times
“Blast! My wife’s in the middle of having a baby. Can you keep the racket down out here?”
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
