wreck
Use Wreck in a sentence
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.
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.
00:10
Wreck
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
Origin:
1200–50; (noun) Middle English wrec, wrech, wrek < Old Danish wrækæ wreck; (v.) late Middle English, derivative of the noun
1200–50; (noun) Middle English wrec, wrech, wrek < Old Danish wrækæ wreck; (v.) late Middle English, derivative of the noun
Related forms
un·wrecked, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To wreck
Collins
World English Dictionary
wreck (rɛk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to involve in or suffer disaster or destruction |
| 2. | (tr) to cause the wreck of (a ship) |
| —n | |
| 3. | a. the accidental destruction of a ship at sea |
| b. the ship so destroyed | |
| 4. | maritime law goods cast ashore from a wrecked vessel |
| 5. | a person or thing that has suffered ruin or dilapidation |
| 6. | the remains of something that has been destroyed |
| 7. | old-fashioned the act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; ruin or destruction |
| [C13: from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic rek. See | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
wreck
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Mooring buoys have been placed at the wreck site to protect it from anchor damage.
The nickname stuck, and over the years missionary pilots and others used the wreck as a navigational reference point.
It was found in the wreck by divers, and probably came too late, since none of the survivors mentioned its use.
When he was a few weeks old, his parents died in a train wreck, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents.
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