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wrench
[ rench ]
verb (used with object)
- to twist suddenly and forcibly; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist:
He wrenched the prisoner's wrist.
- to overstrain or injure (the ankle, knee, etc.) by a sudden, violent twist:
When she fell, she wrenched her ankle.
- to affect distressingly as if by a wrench.
- to wrest, as from the right use or meaning:
to wrench the facts out of context.
verb (used without object)
- to twist, turn, or move suddenly aside:
He wrenched away.
- to give a wrench or twist at something.
noun
- a wrenching movement; a sudden, violent twist:
With a quick wrench, she freed herself.
- a painful, straining twist, as of the ankle or wrist.
- a sharp, distressing strain, as to the feelings.
- a twisting or distortion, as of meaning.
- a tool for gripping and turning or twisting the head of a bolt, a nut, a pipe, or the like, commonly consisting of a bar of metal with fixed or adjustable jaws.
wrench
/ rɛntʃ /
verb
- to give (something) a sudden or violent twist or pull esp so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached
to wrench a door off its hinges
- tr to twist suddenly so as to sprain (a limb)
to wrench one's ankle
- tr to give pain to
- tr to twist from the original meaning or purpose
- intr to make a sudden twisting motion
noun
- a forceful twist or pull
- an injury to a limb, caused by twisting
- sudden pain caused esp by parting
- a parting that is difficult or painful to make
- a distorting of the original meaning or purpose
- a spanner, esp one with adjustable jaws See also torque wrench
Other Words From
- wrencher noun
- wrenching·ly adverb
- outwrench verb (used with object)
- un·wrenched adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of wrench1
Word History and Origins
Origin of wrench1
Idioms and Phrases
see throw a monkey wrench .Example Sentences
Still, remdesivir is complicated to make and supplies are limited, so researchers are testing other drugs that might also throw wrenches into the coronavirus’s replication machinery.
With a wrench thrown into traditional voting procedures because of the coronavirus pandemic, partisans on both sides of the aisle are already tossing around the possibility of a messy election—and perhaps one where one side contests the results.
However, a wrench in the plan would be TikTok’s ad-supported business.
Though it may not seem like it right now—Covid-19 has thrown a big wrench in all kinds of statistics regarding both the present and the future—human well-being has been on a steady upward trajectory for the past couple decades.
To tune a piano, Mitchell uses a wrench to turn metal tuning pins attached to the strings.
Hillary Clinton, he argues, throws a wrench into the system.
Presently he dropped his hammer, and fussed about for a moment with a tiny wrench.
Now the government of President François Hollande is throwing a wrench into the American rush toward peace with Iran.
Factories were hiring anyone who could breathe and turn a wrench.
And you know what could really throw a monkey wrench into the whole effort?
Here the Dimbula shot down a hollow, lying almost on her side—righting at the bottom with a wrench and a spasm.
It may be that, having made up my mind before leaving England, I accomplished a final wrench and adjustment.
I fancy it was pretty well turned, and that made the wrench during the small hours the more severe.
Let them not seek to wrench the affections from the channel in which they flowed, when fresh from their source.
Presently the cords were tightened, by means of a wrench, without the pressure causing much pain to the young Reformer.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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