Wrench
[ren(t)ʃ] or [rɛntʃ]
Definition
(noun.) a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt.
(noun.) a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments; 'the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell'; 'he was sidelined with a hamstring pull'.
(verb.) twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates; 'wrench a window off its hinges'; 'wrench oneself free from somebody's grip'; 'a deep sigh was wrenched from his chest'.
(verb.) make a sudden twisting motion.
Typist: Penelope--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem.
(v. t.) A violent twist, or a pull with twisting.
(v. t.) A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint.
(v. t.) Means; contrivance.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(n.) To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence.
(n.) To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert.
Editor: Wilma
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Wrest, wring, twist.[2]. Sprain, strain, distort.
n. [1]. Twist.[2]. Sprain, strain.[3]. Screw-key.
Checker: Pamela
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Wrest, twist, distort, strain, extort, wring,[See HAVOC]
Edited by Bridget
Definition
v.t. to wring or pull with a twist: to force by violence: to sprain.—v.i. to undergo a violent wrenching.—n. a violent twist: a sprain: an instrument for turning bolts &c.: in coursing bringing the hare round at less than a right angle—half a point in the recognised code of points for judging.
Checked by Francis
Examples
- Some said, that the Vincys had behaved scandalously, that Mr. Vincy had threatened Wrench, and that Mrs. Vincy had accused him of poisoning her son. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- That stupid high heel turned and gave me a sad wrench. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The house might be a good one, but Mr. Wrench was not going to truckle to anybody on a professional matter. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Lydgate should go on now, whether Wrench liked it or not. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The thing is settled now, said Mr. Wrench, rising. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- This was a point on which Lydgate smarted as much as Wrench could desire. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Wrench did not take it at all well. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- In saying what he said then, he never looked at her; but looked at it and wrenched at it. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- And the words were wrenched from him with a groan, which made his brother start. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- And I assure you it wrenched the imagination to see tidy nursemaids wheeling perambulators and children playing diavolo on the very square where Bloody Sunday had gone into history. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The powdered mortar from under the stone at which he wrenched, rattled on the pavement to confirm his words. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- A pang of tameless grief wrenched every heart, a burst of despair was echoed from every lip. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Her hair was falling over her shoulders; her gown was torn where Rawdon had wrenched the brilliants out of it. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- In short, I turned over on my face when I came to that, and got a good grasp on the hair on each side of my head, and wrenched it well. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He appeared to be wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Georgy got one, wrenching it off, having swarmed up the pole to the delight of the spectators, and sliding down with the rapidity of a fall of water. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He knew that all his life he had been wrenching at the frame of life to break it apart. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Oh, if you think of living as the Wrenches do! George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Editor: Will