Definitions for wrench
rɛntʃwrench

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. wrench, twist, pullnoun

   a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments

   "the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell"; "he was sidelined with a hamstring pull"

2. twist, wrenchnoun

   a jerky pulling movement

3. wrench, spannerverb

   a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt

4. wrench, twistverb

   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"

5. wrenchverb

   make a sudden twisting motion

6. wring, wrenchverb

   twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish

   "Wring one's hand"

7. twist, sprain, wrench, turn, wrick, rickverb

   twist suddenly so as to sprain

   "wrench one's ankle"; "The wrestler twisted his shoulder"; "the hikers sprained their ankles when they fell"; "I turned my ankle and couldn't walk for several days"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wrenchnoun

   A movement that twists and pulls violently.

2. wrenchnoun

   A distorting change.

3. wrenchnoun

   A sudden emotional change.

4. wrenchnoun

   A violent pull or twist; a tug

5. wrenchnoun

   a hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes.

6. wrenchverb

   To pull or twist violently.

   With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.

7. wrenchverb

   To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.

   Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!

8. wrenchverb

   To use the tool known as a wrench.

   The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.

9. Etymology: wrencan. Compare German renken.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wrenchnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. A violent pull or twist.2. A sprain.

   Some small part of the foot being injured by a wrench, the whole leg thereby loses its strength. John Locke.

   3. Wrenches, in Geoffrey Chaucer, signifies means, sleights, subtilties; which is, I believe, the sense here.

   He resolved to make his profit of this business of Britain, as a quarrel for war; and that of Naples as a wrench and mean for peace. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.

2. To Wrenchverb

   Etymology: wringan , Saxon; wrenghen, Dutch.

   1. To pull by violence; to wrest; to force.

   Wrench his sword from him. William Shakespeare, Othello.

   Oh form!
   How often do’st thou with thy case, thy habit,
   Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls
   To thy false seeming! William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.

   Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron. William Shakespeare.

   Cæsar’s army, wanting something, demanded a mission or discharge, though with no intention it should be granted; but thought by that means to wrench him to their other desires. Francis Bacon.

   Sing the Parthian, when transfix’d he lies,
   Wrenching the Roman jav’lin from his thighs. Dryden.

   Achilles wrench’d it out, and sent again
   The hostile gift. Dryden.

   Struggling to get loose, I broke the strings, and wrenched out the pegs that fastened my arm to the ground. Gull. Travels.

   2. To sprain; to distort.

   O most small fault!
   How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show?
   Which, like an engine, wrencht my frame of nature
   From the fix’d place; drew from my heart all love,
   And added to the gall. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   You wrenched your foot against a stone, and were forced to stay. Jonathan Swift.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wrench

   A wrench is a hand tool used to provide grip, mechanical advantage, and apply torque to turn objects such as nuts and bolts. It usually has a set of jaws or a hole, which is placed around a fastener and a handle to twist the object. Wrenches come in different shapes and sizes to cater to various tasks and objects.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wrenchverb

   trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem

2. Wrenchverb

   a violent twist, or a pull with twisting

3. Wrenchverb

   a sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint

4. Wrenchverb

   means; contrivance

5. Wrenchverb

   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

6. Wrenchverb

   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

7. Wrenchnoun

   to pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence

8. Wrenchnoun

   to strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert

9. Etymology: [OE. wrenchen, AS. wrencan to deceive, properly, to twist, from wrenc guile, deceit, a twisting. . See Wrench, n.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wrench

   A wrench is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning. In British English, spanner is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-ended spanner and ring spanner. The term wrench refers to various types of adjustable spanner. In American English, wrench is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-end wrench and box-end wrench. In American English, spanner refers to a specialized wrench with a series of pins or tabs around the circumference. In American commerce, such a wrench may be called a spanner wrench to distinguish it from the British sense of spanner. Higher quality wrenches are typically made from chromium-vanadium alloy tool steels and are often drop-forged. They are frequently chrome-plated to resist corrosion and ease cleaning. Hinged tools, such as pliers or tongs, are not generally considered wrenches in English, but exceptions are the plumber wrench and mole wrench.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wrench

   rensh, 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. [A.S. wrencan (Ger. renken)—wrenc, fraud; root of wring.]

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WRENCH

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Wrench is ranked #30420 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Wrench surname appeared 768 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Wrench.
   
   84.9% or 652 total occurrences were White.
   11.9% or 92 total occurrences were Black.
   2.2% or 17 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   0.7% or 6 total occurrences were of two or more races.

Matched Categories

1. • Injury
   • Movement
   • Pull
   • Twist

How to pronounce wrench?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say wrench in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of wrench in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of wrench in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of wrench in a Sentence

1. Chuck Ragan:

   I had fun playing all sorts of old instruments on the record and I think we achieved a pretty full sound from the trashcan to the pipe wrench.

2. Brian Mason:

   If this case is not dismissed, your honor, it's going to throw a monkey wrench into the gears of federalism. It will throw gasoline on the ideological fires that are already raging out of control in this country.

3. Kyle Pomerleau:

   It does throw a little bit of wrench into things, to the extent that individuals are relying on the refund any delay is going to be a negative.

4. Robbert Van Batenburg:

   The more conservative voices in the House essentially threw a wrench into Boehner's efforts to get DHS funding going, and I think maybe this serves as a litmus test for what they can do in the fall.

5. Maya Angelou:

   I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=wrench
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wrench
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=wrench
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrench
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=wrench
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=wrench
8. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html