wrest

American  

[rest] / rɛst /

verb (used with object)

• wrests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wrested,
  past participle,  past
• wresting
  present participle

1. to twist or turn; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist.

   Synonyms:

   wring

2. to take away by force.

   to wrest a knife from a child.

3. to get by effort.

   to wrest a living from the soil.

   Synonyms:

   wring

4. to twist or turn from the proper course, application, use, meaning, or the like; wrench.

---

noun

1. a wresting; twist or wrench.

2. a key or small wrench for tuning stringed musical instruments, as the harp or piano, by turning the pins to which the strings are fastened.

wrest British  

/ rɛst /

verb

1. to take or force away by violent pulling or twisting

2. to seize forcibly by violent or unlawful means

3. to obtain by laborious effort

4. to distort in meaning, purpose, etc

---

noun

1. the act or an instance of wresting

2. archaic a small key used to tune a piano or harp

Synonym Usage

See extract.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wrester
  noun
• unwrested
  adjective
• unwresting
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• wresting
  present
• wrested
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wrest
  simple
• wrests
  simple
• have wrested
  perfect
• has wrested
  perfect
• am wresting
  progressive
• are wresting
  progressive
• is wresting
  progressive
• have been wresting
  perfect progressive
• has been wresting
  perfect progressive

Past

• wrested
  simple
• had wrested
  perfect
• was wresting
  progressive
• were wresting
  progressive
• had been wresting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wrest
  simple
• will have wrested
  perfect
• will be wresting
  progressive
• will have been wresting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of wrest

First recorded before 1000; (verb) Middle English wresten, Old English wrǣstan “to turn, twist,” from unattested Old Norse wreista ( Icelandic reista ); akin to wrist; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb and first recorded in 1350-1400

Explanation

To wrest is to forcefully grab or take something away. You can wrest away many things, such as remote controls and championships. This word is strong and a little violent. It's not easy to wrest something away. Wresting away is a little like "wrestling" something away — you can't get it without a fight. Objects can be wrested away, but so can non-physical things. In a tough election, you could say the new president wrests away the title of commander-in-chief from the incumbent candidate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wrest wrests wrested wresting

Trump's Republican Party faces a stern test at upcoming midterm elections in November, with Democrats seeking to wrest control of both houses of Congress.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

This column has long maintained that a major operation to wrest control of the Persian Gulf would be recommitting to a strategic past that accorded excessive primacy to the Gulf and its oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

But she had to fight to wrest the position permanently from the grasp of an inept, problematic man.

From Salon ● May 11, 2026

But if it can wrest more power from Live Nation, that’s a worthy win in the short term.

From Slate ● Mar. 10, 2026

He was watching with satisfaction and pride the fearless way the princess was now chasing the cub, trying to wrest the toy back from him.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

From here, much of the novel dwells on Günter’s terror and paralysis as the Nazi Party wrests control of Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

Rozario’s mother holds onto him protectively, then wrests the scissors away.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

Back at the studio the anchors vacuously nod at Nandor's escalating trumpery, as they do when The Guide wrests Joanna's microphone away to parley on behalf of all vampires.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2023

Indeed, Fish wrests us from any post-intermission relaxation with a reworked dream ballet sequence that begins in heavy-metal mode.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2022

All these examples show you how man can govern nature, and how, as it were, he wrests a sword from the hand of nature and uses it against herself.

From Paris Talks by `Abdu'l-Bahá

On his ninth try, in 1977, Begin wrested power from the Labor party.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

Co-star Cynthia Erivo promptly wrested the stunned actress away from Mr Wen, who was seen being escorted out of the event by security officers.

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025

It is packaged and commodified, wrested from its continuity with the world and from its intimate relation to the body.

From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2025

First, long before that, the Spanish and Mexicans wrested it away from the Native Americans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

The swan-feather sword he wrested from this monster can be seen in the Wentung County Armory in Shantung today.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

What’s chilling about “Disruption,” an absorbing ensemble drama by Andrew Stein about the brave new world of technology, is that its dark vision of machines wresting control of human destinies doesn’t feel fantastical or futuristic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Gen. Rob Bonta said earlier this month that he is considering placing them in “receivership,” essentially wresting local control of the facilities away from the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2025

The opening exchanges were not to script but Northampton's internationals were crucial in wresting back momentum.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2025

Bush is the incumbent, holding Missouri’s 1st Congressional District’s seat since 2021, after wresting it from 10-term incumbent Democrat William Lacy Clay in a 2020 primary.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2024

I tried wresting more details out of them, but they wouldn’t say more.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• exact
• extort
• extract
• seize
• usurp
• wrench
• wring