What does wracking mean? "Wracking" (or more commonly, "racking") means to cause extreme physical or mental pain or anguish. It often implies a process of continuous or intense suffering. Here are a few examples of how it's used: "Wracking pain": Intense, agonizing pain. "He was wracking his brain for an answer": He was trying very hard, with great mental effort, to remember or think of something. "The disease left him wracked with fever": The fever caused him extreme suffering and weakness.