rack up

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rack up (third-person singular simple present racks up, present participle racking up, simple past and past participle racked up)

1. (ambitransitive, snooker, billiards) To arrange in a rack.

   At the start of the game, the referee racks up the red balls.

   If you rack up, I'll break.

2. (idiomatic) To gain (points etc.; in a game or sport), to accumulate.

   Chelsea racked up another 3 points at home to Bolton.

   • 2013 November 26, Daniel Taylor, “Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     In between, Mesut Özil's penalty was saved and Arsenal racked up more chances than they would probably want to remember.

   • 2026 January 15, Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “‘A nasty little song, really rather evil’: how Every Breath You Take tore Sting and the Police apart”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     As the hearings open, Every Breath You Take sits in the Top 10 of the most-streamed songs daily worldwide on Spotify, racking up about 3.5m plays on that platform alone each day: more than some of the most popular songs of recent times such as Billie Eilish’s Birds of a Feather and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’s Die With a Smile.

3. (idiomatic) To acquire, to gather together.

   By the age of 18, he had already racked up thousands of dollars in debt.

   • 2024 October 8, Megan Uy, Tarah-Lynn Saint-Elien, “65+ Fall Prime Day Fashion Deals Your Closet Is Begging You to Shop”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[3]:

     Rack up your arm candy with this schmancy bangle, watch, and bracelet set from Anne Klein.

4. (idiomatic) To defeat severely, to thrash.
5. (gambling) To collect one's chips and cash out.