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wreck
8 dictionary results for: Wreck
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
wreck       [rek] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.any building, structure, or thing reduced to a state of ruin.
2.wreckage, goods, etc., remaining above water after a shipwreck, esp. 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.
–verb (used with object)
7.to cause the wreck of (a vessel); shipwreck.
8.to involve in a wreck.
9.to cause the ruin or destruction of: to wreck a car.
10.to tear down; demolish: to wreck a building.
11.to ruin or impair severely: Fast living wrecked their health.
–verb (used without object)
12.to be involved in a wreck; become wrecked: The trains wrecked at the crossing.
13.to act as a wrecker; engage in wrecking.

[Origin: 1200–50; (n.) ME wrec, wrech, wrek < ODan wrækæ wreck; (v.) late ME, deriv. of the n.]

9. destroy, devastate, shatter. See spoil.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
wreck       (rěk)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. The act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; destruction.
  2. Accidental destruction of a ship; a shipwreck.
    1. The stranded hulk of a severely damaged ship.
    2. Fragments of a ship or its cargo cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck; wreckage.
  3. The remains of something that has been wrecked or ruined.
  4. Something shattered or dilapidated.
  5. A person who is physically or mentally broken down or worn out.

v.   wrecked, wreck·ing, wrecks

v.   tr.
  1. To cause the destruction of in or as if in a collision.
  2. To dismantle or raze; tear down.
  3. To cause to undergo ruin or disaster. See Synonyms at blast, ruin. See Usage Note at wreak.

v.   intr.
  1. To suffer destruction or ruin; become wrecked.
  2. To work as a wrecker.


[Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrec, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse rec, wreckage.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
wreck  (n.)
1228, "goods cast ashore after a shipwreck, flotsam," from Anglo-Fr. wrec, from O.N. *wrek (cf. Norw., Icel. rek) "wreck, flotsam," related to reka "to drive, push" (see wreak). The meaning "a shipwreck" is first recorded 1463; that of "a wrecked ship" is from 1500. General sense of "remains of anything that has been ruined" is recorded from 1713; applied by 1795 to dissipated persons. The verb meaning "to destroy, ruin" is first recorded 1510. Wreckage is first attested 1837.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
wreck

noun
1. something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation; "the house was a wreck when they bought it"; "thanks to that quack I am a human wreck" 
2. an accident that destroys a ship at sea [syn: shipwreck
3. a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles); "they are still investigating the crash of the TWA plane" [syn: crash
4. a ship that has been destroyed at sea 

verb
1. smash or break forcefully; "The kid busted up the car" [syn: bust up

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Wreck

Wreck\, n. [OE. wrak, AS. wr[ae]c exile, persecution, misery, from wrecan to drive out, punish; akin to D. wrak, adj., damaged, brittle, n., a wreck, wraken to reject, throw off, Icel. rek a thing drifted ashore, Sw. vrak refuse, a wreck, Dan. vrag. See Wreak, v. t., and cf. Wrack a marine plant.] [Written also wrack.]

1. The destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled or sunk by the force of winds or waves; shipwreck.

Hard and obstinate As is a rock amidst the raging floods, 'Gainst which a ship, of succor desolate, Doth suffer wreck, both of herself and goods. --Spenser.

2. Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin; as, the wreck of a railroad train.

The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds. --Addison.

Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life. --J. R. Green.

3. The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture; as, they burned the wreck.

4. The remain of anything ruined or fatally injured.

To the fair haven of my native home, The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come. --Cowper.

5. (Law) Goods, etc., which, after a shipwreck, are cast upon the land by the sea. --Bouvier.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Wreck

Wreck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrecked; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrecking.]

1. To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving it against the shore or on rocks, by causing it to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to shipwreck.

Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked. --Shak.

2. To bring wreck or ruin upon by any kind of violence; to destroy, as a railroad train.

3. To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.

Weak and envied, if they should conspire, They wreck themselves. --Daniel.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Wreck

Wreck\, v. i. 1. To suffer wreck or ruin. --Milton.

2. To work upon a wreck, as in saving property or lives, or in plundering.

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