Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A wrench or spanner which has one fixed and one adjustable jaw.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative form of monkey wrench.

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • monkeywrench: verb: to destroy property to bring attention to illegal or immoral practices.

    Made popular in Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang"

    June 19, 2009

  • Monkeywrench as a verb was first used by Edward Abbey in "The Monkey Wrench Gang," a novel of environmental protest against illegal corporate destruction. It derives from the act of "thrusting a monkeywrench into the bowels of the machine," compared to the sabot in "sabotage." Monkeywrenching has become the banner of the radical environmental movement.

    June 19, 2009