wrench

plural wrenches · alternative obsolete wrenche · alternative obsolete wrinche · alternative obsolete wringe

1. A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.First known use 16th c.

   It was difficult indeed for Max to disengage himself from the effusive Spinola's affection without a wrench.

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   1 more example

   With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC

2. An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.First known use 16th c.
3. obsoleteA trick or artifice.First known use 8th c.
4. obsoleteDeceit; guile; treachery.First known use 13th c.
5. obsoleteA turn at an acute angle.First known use 16th c.
6. archaicA winch or windlass.First known use 16th c.
7. obsoleteA screw.First known use 16th c.
8. A distorting change from the original meaning.First known use 17th c.
9. CanadaPhilippinesUSA hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes.First known use 18th c.

   Synonyms: spanner

10. UKAn adjustable spanner used by plumbers.
11. A violent emotional change caused by separation.First known use 19th c.
12. natural sciencesIn screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body.First known use 19th c.
13. obsoletemeans; contrivance

    But weighing one thing with another he gave Britain for lost; but 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

    1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC

14. In coursing, the act of bringing the hare round at less than a right angle, worth half a point in the recognised code of points for judging.

present singular third person wrenches · participle present wrenching · participle past wrenched · past wrenched · alternative obsolete wrenche · alternative obsolete wrinche · alternative obsolete wringe

1. transitiveTo pull or twist violently.First known use 13th c.

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

2. transitiveTo injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.First known use 16th c.

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

3. transitiveTo distort the original meaning of; to misrepresent.First known use 16th c.
4. transitiveTo rack with pain; to make hurt or distressed.First known use 18th c.

   And what actinic, mind-wrenching form could the countermeme take? How could human hands assemble something so devastatingly powerful and hold it steady; what human mind could wield it without exploding from the inside out?

   2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 191

5. transitiveTo deprive by means of a violent pull or twist.First known use 18th c.
6. transitiveTo use a wrench; to twist with a wrench.First known use 19th c.

   The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.

7. intransitiveobsoleteTo violently move in a turn or writhe.First known use 11th-18th c.
8. obsoletetransitiveTo tighten with or as if with a winch.First known use 16th-19th c.

   [S]end me that hag hither; she shall avouch what it was that she hath given to the wretch Dryfesdale, or the pilniewinks and thumbikins shall wrench it out of her finger-joints.

   1820, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 173–174

9. obsoletetransitiveTo thrust (a weapon) in a twisting motion.First known use 16th c.
10. intransitiveobsoletefencingTo disarm an opponent by whirling their blade away.First known use 18th c.

plural Wrenches

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.