wreck

- 2 dictionary results

[rek]

–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.

Synonyms:
9. destroy, devastate, shatter. See spoil.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

wreck (rěk)

The act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; destruction.
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.
The remains of something that has been wrecked or ruined.
Something shattered or dilapidated.
A person who is physically or mentally broken down or worn out.

v. wrecked, wreck·ing, wrecks

v. tr.

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

v. intr.

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

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