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wrench

[rench]

Example Sentences Origin

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verb (used with object)

to twist suddenly and forcibly; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist: He wrenched the prisoner's wrist.

to overstrain or injure (the ankle, knee, etc.) by a sudden, violent twist: When she fell, she wrenched her ankle.

to affect distressingly as if by a wrench.

to wrest, as from the right use or meaning: to wrench the facts out of context.

verb (used without object)

to twist, turn, or move suddenly aside: He wrenched away.

to give a wrench or twist at something.

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Wrench is one of our favorite verbs.

So is skedaddle. Does it mean:

to spend time idly; loaf.

to run away hurriedly; flee.

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noun

a wrenching movement; a sudden, violent twist: With a quick wrench, she freed herself.

a painful, straining twist, as of the ankle or wrist.

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:
before 1050; Middle English wrenchen (v.), Old English wrencan to twist, turn; cognate with German renken

Related forms

wrench·er, noun

wrench·ing·ly, adverb

out·wrench, verb (used with object)

un·wrenched, adjective

Can be confused: retch, winch, wrench, wretch.

Synonyms
4. distort, twist, warp.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To wrench

Example Sentences

While you are waiting, unscrew and remove the air vent, using a wrench or channel-type pliers if necessary.

Let me throw another wrench into this whole discussion.

The others involved lone adults armed with knives or, in once case, a wrench.

EXPAND

While you are waiting, unscrew and remove the air vent, using a wrench or channel-type pliers if necessary.

Let me throw another wrench into this whole discussion.

The others involved lone adults armed with knives or, in once case, a wrench.

Of course, the weather can throw a monkey wrench in any observation plans.

Hekimi believes that the findings throw a wrench in the entire free radical theory of aging.

The former mechanic tied one end of a string to a wrench and the other end to a finger.

The others claimed not to know the working end of a wrench.

The thought of children having to live in sewers is one that can wrench almost any heart.

He may have been disappointed in himself, even shaken, but outwardly he was as smooth and focused as a socket wrench.

They know how to ride, they know how to wrench and they know how to race.

Use a large adjustable wrench or an automotive socket wrench to tighten the bolts that fasten the post to the joist.

Any return to a gold standard would include all of the state's deceitful ways of throwing a wrench into the machinery.

He worked it down to the gum, and then with a wrench of his shoulder, he twisted it.

Bolted wheels will, of course, require a wrench to remove.

Then use a basin wrench to loosen the nuts beneath the sink that fasten the supply tubes to the faucet's base.

Tighten the nuts with a wrench to securely fasten the boards.

None of the foil boats, not even his, could take the load of the heaviest wrench.

To remove the spout, insert the handle of a wrench into the end and turn the whole spoutcounterclockwise.

Tighten the nut at the end of the rod with a wrench.

Make sure that the faucet is properly aligned over the sink, then use the basin wrench to give the nut an extra turn.

But the banks' swelling coffers are throwing a wrench in efforts to get the economy back on track.

Hold the tap wrench vertically as you cut the threads and back it out frequently to remove plastic chips.

But the writers' strike has already thrown a wrench into the works.

The art might throw a bit of a monkey wrench into things, to the extent that you may want to ship it separate from the move.

Some lever or other was frozen, and the man needed an exotic wrench that he couldn't find, and my father said to forget.

When the nuts are accessible, loosen them with an automotive socket wrench or a bonnet-nut wrench, a type of socket wrench.

The proverbial wrench has been thrown into the engine and caused the machine to tare itself apart.

The historians believe the first quilt the seamstress would display had a wrench pattern.

It was an almost physical wrench to set the phone down even for five minutes.

I've never had the space or the opportunity to learn how to spin a wrench for anything beyond basic stuff.

Rivera and then using the hammer, wrench and bottle on him.

Think of it as switching the sockets on a wrench from standard to metric.

Geaney did not have a gun, but a wrench was found on the front seat of the van.

But now in their college years, a wrench is thrown into the gears of their friendship.

The citizenship would possess magical skills of style that could wrench mahogany from mud.

But then a few individuals would wrench themselves away for quarrels, struggles and frenzies.

Women stand by cluelessly holding the wrench thingy.

The disrupters can throw a monkey wrench into that finely tuned endocrine system.

The opposite end of the tap is squared so it can fit into a tap wrench.

Then, suddenly, the man either began to lose his grip or tried to wrench free of the officers.

All are fully removable and replaceable with only the supplied spare wheel lug wrench and one standard screw driver.

Grant, you may recognize that you are in for a reminiscent wrench.

We threw a monkey wrench into a lot of people's hands.

What the water could not wrench free, it saturated and warped.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

wrench (rɛntʃ)

—vb
1.	to give (something) a sudden or violent twist or pull esp so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached: to wrench a door off its hinges
2.	(tr) to twist suddenly so as to sprain (a limb): to wrench one's ankle
3.	(tr) to give pain to
4.	(tr) to twist from the original meaning or purpose
5.	(intr) to make a sudden twisting motion

—n
6.	a forceful twist or pull
7.	an injury to a limb, caused by twisting
8.	sudden pain caused esp by parting
9.	a parting that is difficult or painful to make
10.	a distorting of the original meaning or purpose
11.	See also torque wrench a spanner, esp one with adjustable jaws

[Old English wrencan; related to Old High German renken, Lithuanian rangyti to twist. See wrinkle¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

wrench

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

EXPAND

toward"), from base *wer- "to turn, bend" (see versus). Related: Wrenched, wrenching.

wrench

O.E. wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws for turning" is first recorded 1794.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

wrench definition

n.
a mechanic. (Possibly from Mr. Goodwrench.) : I gotta get my ride in and have a wrench look at the serpentine.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

wrench

see throw a monkey wrench.

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left-handed monkey wrench

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throw a monkey wrench

Matching Quote

"That is what we must make people feel... the catch in the throat, the wrench to steady the nerves, the determination to carry on."

-John Dos Passos

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