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wrench - 9 dictionary results
wrench
[rench] 
–verb (used with object)
| 1. | to twist suddenly and forcibly; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist: He wrenched the prisoner's wrist. |
| 2. | to overstrain or injure (the ankle, knee, etc.) by a sudden, violent twist: When she fell, she wrenched her ankle. |
| 3. | to affect distressingly as if by a wrench. |
| 4. | to wrest, as from the right use or meaning: to wrench the facts out of context. |
–verb (used without object)
| 5. | to twist, turn, or move suddenly aside: He wrenched away. |
| 6. | to give a wrench or twist at something. |
–noun
| 7. | a wrenching movement; a sudden, violent twist: With a quick wrench, she freed herself. |
| 8. | a painful, straining twist, as of the ankle or wrist. |
| 9. | a sharp, distressing strain, as to the feelings. |
| 10. | a twisting or distortion, as of meaning. |
| 11. | 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:
bef. 1050; ME wrenchen (v.), OE wrencan to twist, turn; c. G renken
bef. 1050; ME wrenchen (v.), OE wrencan to twist, turn; c. G renken
Related forms:
wrencher, noun
wrench⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Synonyms:
4. distort, twist, warp.
4. distort, twist, warp.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To wrench
wrench (rěnch)  (click for larger image in new window) n.
v. tr.
To give a wrench, twist, or turn. [From Middle English wrenchen, to twist, from Old English wrencan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.] wrench'ing·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wrench
Wrench\ (r[e^]nch), n. [OE. wrench deceit, AS. wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. wring. [root]144. See Wring, and cf. Ranch, v. t.]1. Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. [Obs.] His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee. --Chaucer. 2. A violent twist, or a pull with twisting. He wringeth them such a wrench. --Skelton. The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused everywhere. --De Quincey. 3. A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint. 4. Means; contrivance. [Obs.] --Bacon. 5. An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes. 6. (Mech.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench. Carriage wrench, a wrench adapted for removing or tightening the nuts that confine the wheels on the axles, or for turning the other nuts or bolts of a carriage or wagon. Monkey wrench. See under Monkey. Wrench hammer, a wrench with the end shaped so as to admit of being used as a hammer.Wrench
Wrench\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrenched; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrenching.] [OE. wrenchen, AS. wrencan to deceive, properly, to twist, from wrenc guile, deceit, a twisting. ????. See Wrench, n.]1. To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence. Wrench his sword from him. --Shak. Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony. --Coleridge. 2. To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert. You wrenched your foot against a stone. --Swift.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : wrench
Spanish:
arrancar,
German:
entwinden,
Japanese:
もぎ取る
wrench (v.)
O.E. wrencan "to twist," from P.Gmc. *wrankijanan (cf. O.H.G. renken, Ger. renken "to twist, wrench," O.E. wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (cf. Skt. vrnakti "turns, twists," Lith. rengtis "to grow crooked, to writhe"), nasalized variant of *werg- "to turn" (cf. L. vergere "to turn, tend toward"), from base *wer- "to turn, bend" (see versus).
wrench (n.)
O.E. wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws for turning" is first recorded 1794.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1wrench
Pronunciation: 'rench
Function: transitive verb
: to injure or disable by a violent twisting or straining
Main Entry: 2wrench
Function: noun
: a sharp twist or sudden jerk straining muscles or ligaments; also : the resultant injury (as of a joint)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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wrench
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
