ruin Idiom

go to rack and ruin

reach a very bad state of repair The building has gone to rack and ruin since the new owners took over.

in ruins

broken to pieces变成废墟
Berlin was in ruins after World War Ⅱ．二次大战后，柏林一片废墟。

go to wrack and ruin

Idiom(s): go to rack and ruin AND go to wrack and ruin

Theme: RUIN

to go to ruin. (The words rack and wrack mean "wreckage" and are found only in this expression. Fixed order.)
• That lovely old house on the corner is going to go to rack and ruin.
• My lawn is going to wrack and ruin.

Rack and ruin

If something or someone goes to rack and ruin, they are utterly destroyed or wrecked.

go to wrack and ruin|go|ruin|wrack

v. phr. To fall apart and be ruined; to become useless. The barn went to wrack and ruin after the farmer moved. The car will soon go to wrack and ruin standing out in all kinds of weather.

rack and ruin|rack|ruin

n. phr. Complete decay; condition of decline. The entire house had been so neglected that it had gone to rack and ruin.

rack and ruin, go to

rack and ruin, go to
Also, go to wrack and ruin. Become decayed, decline or fall apart, as in After the founder's death the business went to rack and ruin. These expressions are emphatic redundancies, since rack and wrack (which are actually variants of the same word) mean “destruction” or “ruin.” [Mid-1500s]

ruin

ruin
see rack and ruin, go to.