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wrest - 5 dictionary results

wrest

  [rest]
Use wrest in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to twist or turn; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist.
2. to take away by force: to wrest a knife from a child.
3. to get by effort: to wrest a living from the soil.
4. to twist or turn from the proper course, application, use, meaning, or the like; wrench.
–noun
5. a wresting; twist or wrench.
6. a key or small wrench for tuning stringed musical instruments, as the harp or piano, by turning the pins to which the strings are fastened.
Origin:
bef. 1000; (v.) ME wresten, OE wrǣstan; c. ON reista; akin to wrist; (n.) ME: a wresting, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
wrester, noun

Synonyms:
1, 3. wring. 3. See extract.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To wrest
wrest   (rěst)   
tr.v.   wrest·ed, wrest·ing, wrests
  1. To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements: wrested the book out of his hands; wrested the islands from the settlers.
  2. To usurp forcefully: wrested power from the monarchy.
  3. To extract by or as if by force, twisting, or persistent effort; wring: wrest the meaning from an obscure poem.
    1. To distort or twist the nature or meaning of: wrested the words out of context.
    2. To divert to an improper use; misapply.
n.  
  1. The act of wresting.
  2. Music A small tuning key for the wrest pins of a stringed instrument.

[Middle English wresten, from Old English wrǣstan, to twist; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.]
wrest'er n.
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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Wrest

Wrest\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrested; p. pr. & vb. n. Wresting.] [OE. wresten, AS. wr?stan; akin to wr?? a twisted band, and wr[=i]?n to twist. See Writhe.]

1. To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence; to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or twisting. "The secret wrested from me." --Milton.

Our country's cause, That drew our swords, now secret wrests them from our hand. --Addison.

They instantly wrested the government out of the hands of Hastings. --Macaulay.

2. To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort.

Wrest once the law to your authority. --Shak.

Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor. --Ex. xxiii. 6.

Their arts of wresting, corrupting, and false interpreting the holy text. --South.

3. To tune with a wrest, or key. [Obs.]

Wrest

Wrest\, n. 1. The act of wresting; a wrench; a violent twist; hence, distortion; perversion. --Hooker.

2. Active or moving power. [Obs.] --Spenser.

3. A key to tune a stringed instrument of music.

The minstrel . . . wore round his neck a silver chain, by which hung the wrest, or key, with which he tuned his harp. --Sir W. Scott.

4. A partition in a water wheel, by which the form of the buckets is determined.

Wrest pin (Piano Manuf.), one of the pins around which the ends of the wires are wound in a piano. --Knight.

Wrest plank (Piano Manuf.), the part in which the wrest pins are inserted.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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wrest 
O.E. wræstan "to twist, wrench," from P.Gmc. *wraistijanan (cf. O.N. reista "to bend, twist"), derivative of *wrig-, *wreik- "to turn" (see wry). Meaning "to pull, detach" (something) is recorded from 1297. Meaning "to take by force" (in ref. to power, authority, etc.) is attested from 1426.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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