a heavy metal ball swung by a crane to demolish a building
And now a wrecking ball stands outside, poised to demolish it.
2.
something that destroys the current situation
That he's going to take a wrecking ball to the current cabinet to show that he reallydoes represent change and he's going to bring in a whole bunch of new people.
What began on a tidy seaside resort on South Africa's east coast has turned intoa wrecking ball that has smashed into world cricket's fragile calm and left it bruisedand on the verge of being broken into east and west, black and white.