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.
Origin of wrench
before 1050;Middle Englishwrenchen (v.), Old Englishwrencan to twist, turn; cognate with Germanrenken
Related formswrench·er, nounwrench·ing·ly, adverbout·wrench, verb (used with object)un·wrenched, adjectiveCan be confusedranchwrench
Old English wrencan "to twist," from Proto-Germanic *wrankijanan (cf. Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (cf. Sanskrit vrnakti "turns, twists," Lithuanian rengtis "to grow crooked, to writhe"), nasalized variant of *werg- "to turn" (cf. Latin vergere "to turn, tend toward"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Related: Wrenched, wrenching.
wrench
n.
Old English wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws for turning" is first recorded 1794.
