wrench
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English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: rĕnch IPA(key): /ɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛntʃ
Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English wrench, from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz (“a turning, twisting”). Compare German Rank (“plot, intrigue”).
Noun
[edit]wrench (plural wrenches)
- A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug. [from 16th c.]
- 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
- With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.
- An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain. [from 16th c.]
- (obsolete) A trick or artifice. [from 8th c.]
- (obsolete) Deceit; guile; treachery. [from 13th c.]
- (obsolete) A turn at an acute angle. [from 16th c.]
- (archaic) A winch or windlass. [from 16th c.]
- (obsolete) A screw. [from 16th c.]
- A distorting change from the original meaning. [from 17th c.]
- (US) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner. [from 18th c.]
- Synonym: (UK, Australia, New Zealand) spanner
- (UK) An adjustable spanner used by plumbers.
- A violent emotional change caused by separation. [from 19th c.]
- (physics) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body. [from 19th c.]
- (obsolete) means; contrivance
- 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:
- 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
- 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.
Derived terms
[edit]- adjustable wrench
- Allen wrench
- alligator wrench
- bicycle wrench
- dog bone wrench
- flare-nut wrench
- flare nut wrench
- hex head wrench
- hook wrench
- key wrench
- monkey-wrench, monkey wrench, monkeywrench
- nipple wrench
- nut wrench
- pipe wrench
- plumber wrench
- ratchet wrench
- ring wrench
- screw wrench
- smoke wrench
- socket wrench
- spoke wrench
- Stillson wrench
- Swedish wrench
- tension wrench
- throw a monkey wrench in the works
- throw a monkey wrench into the works
- throw a wrench in
- throw a wrench in the gears
- throw a wrench in the works
- throw a wrench into the works
- torque wrench
- torsion wrench
- tube wrench
- tuning wrench
- wrench hammer
- wrench in the works
- wrenchman
Translations
[edit]deceit; guile; treachery
violent twisting movement
|
injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb
|
turn at an acute angle
|
screw — see screw
distorting change from the original meaning
tool: wrench (US), spanner (UK, AU, NZ) — see spanner
hand tool
|
violent emotional change caused by separation
|
physics: screw assembled from force and torque vectors
Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English wrenchen, from Old English wrenċan, from Proto-Germanic *wrankijaną. Compare German renken.
Verb
[edit]wrench (third-person singular simple present wrenches, present participle wrenching, simple past and past participle wrenched)
- (transitive) To pull or twist violently. [from 13th c.]
- With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.
- (transitive) To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting. [from 16th c.]
- Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
- (transitive) To distort the original meaning of; to misrepresent. [from 16th c.]
- (transitive) To rack with pain; to be hurt or distressed. [from 18th c.]
- (transitive) To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist. [from 18th c.]
- (transitive) To use a wrench; to twist with a wrench. [from 19th c.]
- The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To violently move in a turn or writhe. [11th-18th c.]
- (transitive, obsolete) To tighten with or as if with a winch. [16th-19th c.]
- 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:
- [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.
- (transitive, obsolete) To thrust a weapon in a twisting motion. [16th c.]
- (intransitive, fencing, obsolete) To disarm an opponent by whirling his or her blade away. [18th c.]
Translations
[edit]to pull or twist
|
to sprain a joint
|
to use a wrench
|
References
[edit]- “wrench, n.1”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Further reading
[edit]- wrench on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Category:Wrenches on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-West Germanic *wranki, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]wrench (plural wrenches or wrenche)
- A trick or artifice; a deceptive action.
- a. 1250, Death’s wither-clench (IMEV 2070, Cotton MS. Caligula A. IX)[1], archived from the original on 2 May 2023, folio 246, recto; republished at London: British Library Digitised Manuscripts, c. 2015:
- Non[sic – meaning Mon] mai longe liues ƿene:
Ac ofte hi[m] lieð þe wrench.
Feir ƿeð[er] turneð ofte i[n]to reine […]- People may expect long lives,
but a trick often betrays them;
fair weather often turns into rain […]
- People may expect long lives,
- Trickery, deception, guile.
Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “wrench, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
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