wrench

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“
He noted a pair of scissors and a wrench were among the items found inside the pickup.

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Definitions (35)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (13)

  1. noun A sudden sharp, forcible twist or turn.
  2. noun An injury produced by twisting or straining.
  3. noun A sudden tug at one's emotions; a surge of compassion, sorrow, or anguish.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (13)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples (50)

  • Though Nick had been expecting some sort of action from his adversary, the wrench was a complete surprise. —  Mystery on Pluto
  • A picker uses two tools: a tension wrench, which is inserted into the lock and twisted to keep pressure on the locking pins inside, and the pick itself, which pushes each pin out of the way so the lock can be turned to the open position. —  The Vanished Man
  • On the grass lies a bloodstained wrench, apparently the very wrench which Sutton had found in the trunk. —  Time Quarry Pt.3
  • Nevertheless every time the wrench was as keen as ever. —  The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton Volume II
  • To make this tension wrench, which is sometimes called a feathertouch or spring tension wrench, you must first get a spring. —  Picking New High Security Door Locks
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

convulsive ·  jolt ·  hammer ·  bolt ·  screw ·  sicken ·  pliers ·  clamp ·  pang ·  agonize ·  lever ·  spasm

Used in the same contextWord Family

wrench:   wrenching ·  wrenches ·  wrenched
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Middle English wrenchen, to twist, from Old English wrencan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also dial. wrinch; from Middle English wrench, wrenche, also unassibilated wrenk, wrenke, wrink, from Anglo-Saxon wrenc, wrence, guile, fraud, deceit (the orig. physical sense being preserved in modern English, but not recorded in Middle English and Anglo-Saxon), = Middle High German ranc, quick movement, motion, German rank, trick, artifice, intrigue, German dial. also crookedness; from the root of wring; cf. modern English wrong, adjective and n., in the metaphorical senses, ult. from the root of wring.
  2. from Middle English wrenchen, wrench, twist, turn, from Anglo-Saxon wrencan, deceive, = Middle High German G. renken, G. (ver) renken, dislocate, twist, sprain; from the noun.
 

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/rɛntʃ/
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