racket

be a racket

1. To be great deal of noise or a loud commotion. There's an awful racket outside the house. What's all that racket, kids? A: "Well, that was quite a racket!" B: "Yeah, looks like raccoons got into our trashcans."

2. To be fraudulent, dishonest, or illegal as a means of generating profit. Any scheme that promises to help you get rich quick is nothing but a racket. Extortion is just one of the mob's many rackets that it runs. Don't give Rich any money—if he comes to you with some ingenious idea, know that it's just a racket.

3. slang To provide an easy and profitable living, as of a business or occupation. This freelance work can be a pretty good racket if you have the right connections. Did you see the big house he has? I had no idea being an inventor was such a racket! Everyone thinks that running a tech start-up is a racket, without seeing all the late nights and hard work that goes into it.

See also: racket

juice racket

An illegal money-lending operation in which exorbitantly high interest is charged on the amount lent; an act or instance of criminal usury. The notorious gangster was finally brought down for running a years-long juice racket. New legislation is being introduced to clamp down on juice rackets that have been bleeding innocent people dry.

See also: juice, racket

numbers racket

An illegal lottery in which one bets on certain numbers appearing in a newspaper or other publication, usually one related to racing. Primarily heard in US. Why do you think Grandpa was so poor? Because any time he had any money, he'd lose it playing the numbers racket!

See also: number, racket

play the numbers racket

To participate in an illegal lottery in which one bets on the appearance of certain numbers in a newspaper or other publication, usually related to racing. Primarily heard in US. Why do you think Grandpa was so poor? Because any time he had any money, he'd lose it playing the numbers racket!

See also: number, play, racket

racket

1. A great deal of noise or a loud commotion. What's all that racket, kids? There's an awful racket outside the house.

2. A fraudulent scam or money-making operation. He's always cooking up some racket or another to get rich quick. The mob uses legitimate businesses to conceal the rackets it runs to earn its real profits.

3. slang Any business or occupation, especially one that provides an easy and profitable living. I've got a pretty good racket going between writing my novel and doing freelance work in the evening.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

land so poor it wouldn't even raise a fuss

 and land too poor to raise a racket on

Rur. land where nothing will grow. I inherited two hundred acres from my uncle, but it's land so poor it wouldn't even raise a fuss. The soil's exhausted. That land is so poor it wouldn't even raise a fuss. Jill can grow a garden anywhere, even on land too poor to raise a racket on.

See also: even, fuss, land, poor, raise

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

juice racket

n. a racket where exorbitant interest is charged on loans. (Underworld.) The cops got one of the leaders of the juice racket.

See also: juice, racket

racket

1. n. noise. Cut out that racket! Shut up!

2. n. a deception; a scam. This is not a service station; it’s a real racket!

3. n. any job. I’ve been in this racket for twenty years and never made any money.

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.