wrecker

[ rek-er ]

noun

1. a person or thing that wrecks.
2. a person, car, or train employed in removing wreckage, debris, etc., as from railroad tracks.
3. Also called tow car, tow truck. a vehicle equipped with a mechanical apparatus for hoisting and pulling, used to tow wrecked, disabled, or stalled automobiles.
4. Also called housewrecker. a person whose business it is to demolish and remove houses or other buildings, as in clearing sites for other use.
5. a person or vessel employed in recovering salvage from wrecked or disabled vessels.
6. a person who plunders wrecks, especially after exhibiting false signals in order to cause shipwrecks.

wrecker

/ ˈrɛkə /

noun

1. a person or thing that ruins or destroys
2. a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars
3. (formerly) a person who lures ships to destruction to plunder the wreckage
4. See tow truck
   another word for tow truck

Word History and Origins

Origin of wrecker¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; wreck + -er ¹

Example Sentences

We invented a trusted magical figure, turned him into a home wrecker, and pump those lyrics into the backseat all December long.

From The Daily Beast

“I remember these kids coming up to me and calling me a ‘home-wrecker,’” Cardellini told The Daily Beast.

From The Daily Beast

I remember these kids coming up to me and calling me a “home-wrecker,” and so I had flashes of that going into my role on Mad Men.

From The Daily Beast

He had been a smuggler, a wrecker, a pirate; his hand was red with blood, his soul dark with the soil of crime.

From Project Gutenberg

In some places even a wrecker's foot-path down the bank lasts several years.

From Project Gutenberg

No; the vital defect of The Wrecker must be set down to Mr. Stevenson's account.

From Project Gutenberg

It makes no difference whether Whitmore was a home-wrecker or a man of the utmost probity.

From Project Gutenberg

As our vessel was not noted for fast sailing, we accepted an invitation to go on board of a Wrecker.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bomber