I. ˈrench verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English wrenchen, from Old English wrencan to twist, wrench; akin to Old High German renken to twist, wrench, Lithuanian rengtis to bend over heavily, twist oneself, Latin vergere to bend, incline, Sanskrit varjati he bends, turns; basic meaning: turning, bending, twisting
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make or seem to make a sudden, sharp, or violent turning or twisting motion
of a sudden her heart wrenched — Scott Fitzgerald
the trail teetered down into a gulch and wrenched up the other side — A.B.Guthrie
also : to undergo a turning or twisting by an outer force
b. of a hare : to veer so as to approach at less than a right angle
2. : to perform the action of pulling or straining at something with an especially violent twisting
tighten the nuts by light wrenching — B.G.A.Skrotzki & W.A.Vopat
suspense wrenching at the pit of his stomach — Marcia Davenport
transitive verb
1. : to twist violently to one side or out of line, shape, or position
the wind wrenched the stems double — Pearl Buck
wrenched his head around — F.V.W.Mason
2. : to injure or disable by a violent twisting or straining : sprain
every joint and every muscle was wrenched — R.O.Bowen
3. : to alter from an original, normal, or true significance, intention, situation, or function
a readiness to wrench language in order to gain nervous immediacy — Irving Howe
these, then, are the highlights of the essay wrenched from their context — L.W.Elder
especially : distort , pervert
a distributive language … has been wrenched … to make it fit an alien grammar — Charlton Laird
each object is wrenched from its original purpose and changed into a work of art — G.H.Hamilton
4.
a. : to pull, jerk, or tighten by a twisting motion or with violence
wrenched open the back door — Patrick Campbell
b. : to wrest or force by or as if by a violent wrench or sudden twist : snatch forcibly
by a terrible effort wrenched the tightening fingers away — Oscar Wilde
wrenched the jacket from him with unnecessary violence — G.B.Shaw
wrenching every penny from the poor — Michael McLaverty
custom wrenched from her a small, stiff bow — Elizabeth Bowen
c. : to violently alter the situations, surroundings, or characteristics of
had to wrench themselves back to the dull reality of the apartment — Bernard Frizell
wrenched from their older tribal society and thrust into new ways of life — H.R.Isaacs
5. : to cause (a hare) to swerve in a wrench
6. : to cause to suffer emotional distress or mental anguish : rack
a kaleidoscope of heart- wrenching incidents — Newsweek
7. New Zealand : root-prune
Synonyms:
wrest , wring : wrench indicates a twisting or turning with considerable force, often with an abrupt tug or yank, so that the thing affected is twisted, distorted, or forced out of position; it may stress the violence of exertion in pulling or yanking
carelessly wrenching the pipe until it bent
a wrenching effect on the basic structural line — Sidney Hyman
jerked and wrenched savagely at his bridle, stopping the hard-breathing animal with a furious pull near the colonel — Stephen Crane
wrest commonly indicates a twisting or wrenching, sometimes with crude violence, sometimes with continuing deftness and dexterity, from another's possession into one's own
through the efforts of bold and ambitious men who wrest the power from the lords — Frank Thilly
while one group of Mississippi valley pioneers advanced into the Southwest to wrest Texas from its Mexican owners — R.A.Billington
when we could wrest the initiative from our enemies — F.D.Roosevelt
wring indicates a compressive twisting together, often to express or extract
wring out wet clothes
more farm output, both of foodstuffs and raw materials, must be wrung from the hard-pressed peasants — H.R.Lieberman
wringing more blackmail from this unwarlike nation — C.S.Forester
II. noun
( -es )
1. : an act of wrenching or an instance of being wrenched: as
a. : a violent twisting to one side or out of shape or a pull with or as if with twisting
with an immense wrench … he shook the men from off his back — Liam O'Flaherty
b.
(1) : a sharp twist or sudden jerk straining muscles or ligaments : sprain
(2) : an injury by twisting (as in a joint)
c. : an often distorting or perverting alteration from a normal pattern or original signification
in … the famous speech … a curious wrench and change of tone occurs shortly before the ending — Margery Bailey
d. : a separation or other change in circumstances causing acute emotional distress
the wrench it must have been for my wife to leave her infant son at home — O.S.J.Gogarty
it would be more of a wrench … to change … than to continue in the old cumbersome habits — A.L.Kroeber
also : a painful twinge of feeling or sometimes a temporary or permanent psychological alteration caused by separation, loss, or other emotionally or psychologically disturbing events
does not require too much of a psychological wrench for a hardened soldier to get rid of one, two, or three, if he is not in a mood to take prisoners — Theodore Draper
the wrench from my childish faith in my father as perfect and omniscient — G.B.Shaw
2. : a turn at an acute angle made by a coursed hare
3. : a hand tool that usually consists of a bar or lever with adapted or adjustable jaws, lugs, or sockets either at the ends or between the ends and is used for holding, twisting, or turning a bolt, nut, screwhead, pipe or other object ; also : a power tool for similar purposes
4. : a physical system consisting of a force and a couple in a plane perpendicular to the force
5. : something causing a total upset or breakdown — used in such phrases as throw a wrench into
before he could land another job, hard luck threw a wrench into his plans — F.B.Gipson
III.
dialect
variant of rinse