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• monkey wrench
  monkey wrench

  noun

  a wrench having an adjustable jaw permitting it to grasp nuts or the like of different sizes.
• monkey-wrench
  monkey-wrench

  verb (used with object)

  to ruin (plans, a schedule, etc.) unavoidably or, sometimes, deliberately.

monkey wrench

¹ American  

noun

1. especially British, adjustable spanner.  a wrench having an adjustable jaw permitting it to grasp nuts or the like of different sizes.

2. something that interferes with functioning; obstacle.

   He threw a monkey wrench into our plans.

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monkey-wrench ² American  

[muhng-kee-rench] / ˈmʌŋ kiˌrɛntʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to ruin (plans, a schedule, etc.) unavoidably or, sometimes, deliberately.

   The storm monkey-wrenched our plans for a picnic.

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verb (used without object)

1. to prevent, delay, or sabotage industrialization or development of wilderness areas, especially through vandalism.

monkey wrench British  

noun

1. a wrench with adjustable jaws

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Other Word Forms

• monkey-wrencher
  noun

Etymology

Origin of monkey wrench¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Origin of monkey-wrench²

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

And part of their idea was you throw a monkey wrench into this process to stop it.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2023

“The last thing that a booming economy needs is to throw a monkey wrench into a system that we have that is working marvelously well.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 12, 2023

“To be thrown back into crisis with whatever monkey wrench happens next — I think that would be unfair.”

From Washington Post • Mar. 19, 2022

Warhol was a hugely successful commercial artist — and quite rich from it, earning up to an inflation-adjusted $500,000 a year— before he threw a well-placed monkey wrench into a haughty and exclusionary art world.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2022

While everyone else was working to smooth the path toward integration, he could be the monkey wrench thrown into the works to slow the process down.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson