wreck

American  

[rek] / rɛk /

noun

1. any building, structure, or thing reduced to a state of ruin.

2. wreckage, goods, etc., remaining above water after a shipwreck, especially when cast ashore.

3. the ruin or destruction of a vessel in the course of navigation; shipwreck.

4. a vessel in a state of ruin from disaster at sea, on rocks, etc.

5. the ruin or destruction of anything.

   the wreck of one's hopes.

6. a person of ruined health; someone in bad shape physically or mentally.

   The strain of his work left him a wreck.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause the wreck of (a vessel); shipwreck.

2. to involve in a wreck.

3. to cause the ruin or destruction of.

   to wreck a car.

   Synonyms:

   shatter, devastate, destroy

4. to tear down; demolish.

   to wreck a building.

5. to ruin or impair severely.

   Fast living wrecked their health.

verb (used without object)

1. to be involved in a wreck; become wrecked.

   The trains wrecked at the crossing.

2. to act as a wrecker; engage in wrecking.

wreck British  

/ rɛk /

verb

1. to involve in or suffer disaster or destruction

2. (tr) to cause the wreck of (a ship)

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noun

1. 1. the accidental destruction of a ship at sea

   2. the ship so destroyed

2. maritime law goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel

3. a person or thing that has suffered ruin or dilapidation

4. the remains of something that has been destroyed

5. old-fashioned the act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; ruin or destruction

Usage

What does wreck mean? To wreck something is to destroy, ruin, or severely damage it.It’s commonly used in the context of the destruction of physical objects, as in He wrecked the car when he hit the tree. Nonphysical things can also be wrecked, as in Tom’s poor planning wrecked his chances of finishing his homework in time to go to baseball practice.Wreck is also commonly used as a noun referring to something that has been destroyed or turned into a ruin, such as a building, as in All that was left of the house after the fire was a burnt wreck. Wreck is often used figuratively to describe a person who is in bad health or who is emotionally or mentally unwell, as in Stress reduces him to a nervous wreck. Wreck is also used in a more specific way to refer to sunken or destroyed ships, as in The diver went to the bottom of the sea to explore the wreck. The word shipwreck means the same thing.The word wreckage refers to the remains of something that has been wrecked.Example: I cried so much at the end of that movie that I was an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.

Related Words

See spoil.

Other Word Forms

• unwrecked adjective

Etymology

Origin of wreck

First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English wrec, wrech, wrek, from Old Danish wrækæ “wreck”; (verb) late Middle English, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

Video from the scene showed Joshua being helped out from the back seat of a wrecked large car.

From BBC

The circumstances around the wreck are "currently being investigated," said police in Ogun state, just north of Nigeria's economic capital Lagos, which throngs with visitors from across the country and diaspora each December.

From Barron's

The wreck was reported at 4:46 a.m. on the transition ramp from the southbound 5 Freeway to the westbound lanes of the 10 Freeway.

From Los Angeles Times

He convinces himself without any justification that Phineas is his enemy and “had deliberately set out to wreck” his studies by distracting him from schoolwork.

From The Wall Street Journal

Another described how he was hospitalised due to the stress, and another recounted how his studies and finances were wrecked.

From BBC

Related Words

• batter
• decimate
• demolish
• destroy
• devastate
• impair
• injure
• mangle
• mar
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• sink
• smash
• spoil
• torpedo
• trash
• undermine