rackets
rackets Lexical Profile
rackets Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Light bats having a round or oval frame strung with a tight network of strings, used for striking a ball or shuttlecock in games such as tennis, badminton, and squash.
"The coach asked the players to place their tennis rackets neatly against the fence before starting the warm-up drills."
Illegal or fraudulent business schemes, extortion operations, or criminal enterprises.
"Federal investigators spent two years dismantling the protection rackets that had plagued local store owners."
Loud, unpleasant, and confusing noises, clamors, or disturbances.
"Between the construction outside and the barking dogs next door, the competing rackets made it impossible to concentrate."
A fast indoor game played by two or four people with long-handled strung rackets and a hard small ball in a four-walled court, serving as a historical precursor to squash (construed as singular).
"During the nineteenth century, rackets became a popular court sport at English public schools and universities."
• verb
To make a loud, unpleasant, clattering noise or move about noisily (third-person singular simple present of 'racket').
"The old freight train rackets across the iron trestle bridge every midnight."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
In its sporting sense, 'racket' comes from Middle French 'raquette', ultimately derived from Arabic 'rāḥat al-yad' ('palm of the hand'), referring to how early ball games were played with the bare hand before stringed bats were introduced. The sense of a loud, clattering noise is of separate imitative origin.