Definition of wrench in English:
wrench
noun rɛn(t)ʃrɛn(t)ʃ
1A sudden violent twist or pull.
with a wrench Tony wriggled free- He ordered a loaf, watched as she slipped it into a bag, twisting the top with a wrench of her wrist.
- Most sprains happen from a sudden wrench or twist.
- It is a bit plasticky inside, not helped by the rather dull colours used for the interior trim, but none of the seemingly ill-designed fittings actually came apart of their own accord, only after being given a hard wrench.
- I may venture to say, loosely, that in Judo there is a sort of counter for every twist, wrench, pull, push or bend.
- Jo steeled herself, and with an almighty wrench pulled her legs free of Morgan's vice-like grip.
- A sharp wrench to my shoulder and Jonathan forcibly pulling me to my feet shocked me.
tug, pull, jerk, jolt, wrest, heave, twistinformal yank2A feeling of sadness or distress caused by one's own or another's departure.
it will be a real wrench to leave after eight years- ‘It is a wrench but I would probably not be able to represent my constituents with the energy I had before, so it is time someone a bit younger took it on,’ she said.
- Mr and Mrs Hoban said: ‘This is a big wrench but we cannot support a party that flouts the UN.’
- You know, many people were so loyal to Dan, Peter and Tom, after having been on for over 20 years, that this throws a wrench in everybody's viewing habits.
- One of the biggest wrenches was having to give up my job.
- Fernandez, who lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Ximena, and one-year-old daughter, Judith, is not being diplomatic when he says that it will be a wrench to leave Livingston.
- It's going to be a huge wrench for me and everyone who has been at the offices for years.
- The move was a real wrench, and he feels guilty about it even though everyone has told him he has done the right thing.
- Although Jay admits it was a wrench leaving her family she is hoping to be joined by husband Sino, 34, who works for an Indian shipping company and their five-year-old daughter Neha in the spring.
- Practice manager Sandra Jackson said: ‘We've got a lot of history here and it's really going to be a bit of a wrench, but the new facilities are fantastic.’
- The project is for young people aged 13 to 19 but it is such a wrench for older members to leave that they are trained to become volunteer youth workers and so continue their connection with the project.
- The area, on the edge of the Dales, has much to commend it to Dr Hope, and the move from York should not prove too much of a wrench.
- It must be a big wrench for him and the supporters to have a home-bred player leave the club.
- It will be a major wrench for the youngster, who has considered the Heslington-based club as his ‘home’ course since arriving at York University three years ago.
- There was more gut wrench when he left Liverpool for Real Sociedad in 1989, only to return to Merseyside with Tranmere as a player two years later.
- So, as you can imagine, it's a great wrench to be pulling out: I'm emotionally involved now, it's part of me.
- This is going to be a huge wrench for me, but it is a huge challenge that I'm looking forward to.
- But he and his wife Hillary also face the wrench of leaving behind their three sons, Owen and Daniel, who are in university, and Benjamin, who is still in school.
- It will be a bit of a wrench to leave the house the family has had for so long.
- And with a sudden wrench inside of his heart, Ark realised that his friend was gone.
- He describes a lonely pitcher: ‘Life outside the diamond is a wrench.’
painful parting, distressing separation, traumatic eventpain, ache, pang, trauma3An adjustable tool like a spanner, used for gripping and turning nuts or bolts.
you will need a wrench to tighten it in position- Remove the pivot bolt with a wrench and take out the spring - with a screwdriver, if necessary.
- As she entered the garage she spotted Aouri kneeling beside Brigg's motorcycle, tightening something with a wrench.
- Put the nuts on the bolts and tighten them a bit with your fingers, then use a wrench and a screwdriver or Allen key to tighten them completely.
- Feeling the cold steel in his hand, Mario used the wrench to loosen the bolt underneath the sink in the main bathroom of his parents' apartment.
- Use a spoke wrench to tighten spokes that feel loose relative to the others - just so they're about as snug as the two spokes closest to them; don't crank down.
- A set of three good quality adjustable wrenches - small, medium and large - will fit a very wide range of nuts and bolts and should be all you'll ever need.
- Use the wrench to tighten the nut, but not too much.
- Pipe wrenches are necessary to tighten plumbing pipes.
- Use either vise grips and a pair of pliers, or a pipe wrench and pliers to remove the old shower head.
- Jason grabbed a wrench and launched it toward the wall.
- Either faucet can be installed with standard tools, although you may need a basin wrench to reach up to the nuts that hold the faucet to the underside of the sink.
- Use the adjustable wrench and tighten all the nuts.
- He pulled the tire wrench from behind the seat, and walked to the back of the truck.
- Cray took the wrench and disappeared back under the front end.
- A few quick turns of a wrench and the joints were together.
- Lacking the special wrenches required to remove the bolts that held the wings on, the dockworkers had employed cold chisels on the bolt heads.
- When I have to carry a lot of wrenches in an implement toolbox, I can find the one I need quickly by hooking them all on a couple of snap hooks.
- This is a very handy pair of pliers because it can be also used as a pipe wrench, adjustable wrench, wire cutter, ratchet, or a clamp.
- With a pedal wrench turn the shaft while holding the bike, pedal, and crank steady.
- An adjustable wrench works well to tighten up the hardware that holds the faucet in place.
British spanner, adjustable spannerNorth American monkey wrench4Mechanics
A combination of a couple with a force along its axis.
verb rɛn(t)ʃrɛn(t)ʃ
[with object]1Pull or twist suddenly and violently.
Casey grabbed the gun and wrenched it from my handwith object and complement she wrenched herself free of his grip- She groped through her pile of dirty clothes for her battered gym shoes and wrenched them on forcefully.
- Releasing the clutch pedal suddenly, I floored the accelerator, and the wheels spun madly as I wrenched the steering wheel with all my might.
- He grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open.
- The owner of the shovel grunted and wrenched another mound of dirt out of the ground.
- My idle hands proceeded to pound, wrench, twist, pry, and yank at anything I could get a hold on.
- Like a flash, Dagnin leaps onto the table and wrenches his sword free.
- Jason came in and Jess's heart wrenched at his appearance but she refused to be softened towards him.
- On days like this I dream of wrenching the machine from the sockets and hauling it off my desk, showering useless pieces of paper and coffee cups and disks all over the cheap government carpet.
- I carefully put the slip of paper back into my pocket and wrenched the shovel out of the ground.
- With a final tug, Cedric heaved on the crossbow bolt, wrenching it free at last.
- He held his breath and wrenched at the door, but it would not open.
- She wrenched her bedroom door open and walked in, slamming it shut behind her.
- She doesn't just take the stage - she grabs the camera, squeezes its neck like a tube of toothpaste, and wrenches every iota of power and pathos from every cell of her being to captivate the screen.
- He jumped, sitting bolt upright, and her heart wrenched at the sight of him.
- A few cars had smashed windscreens and the entrails of radios strewn over the seats and onto the pavement where the doors had been wrenched open.
- Suddenly another pain wrenched her heart and she clutched her chest, gasping for air.
- His heart wrenched at the sound, for he knew whom it was behind the tears.
- A sudden cold wrenched my stomach, and I fought to keep from crying out.
- Forcing a smile onto her face, Alicia grabbed the door handle and wrenched it open.
- She wrenched her wrist away and backed away, trying to gather her wits.
tug, pull, jerk, wrest, heave, twist, tear, rip, pluck, grab, seize, snatch, force, take by force, remove by force, prise, peelNorth American pryinformal yank- 1.1 Injure (a part of the body) as a result of a sudden twisting movement.she slipped and wrenched her ankle
- Naturally, I dashed back to the car, and promptly wrenched my ankle.
- In an effort not to crush them and/or avoid severe plastic pokey bit perforation of your foot, you will twist one way or the other and thus wrench your ankle.
- I wrenched my ankle on the way out of the compound.
- A racer from Team Whole Foods Market wrenched her ankle immediately and vanished in the cloud of dust raised by the stampede.
- She was badly injured and her spine was wrenched out of place.
- She wrenched her wrists trying to get them out of Jack's strong grasp.
- Upon getting up, he discovered that he'd wrenched his ankle, and couldn't put much weight on it.
- So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.
sprain, twist, turn, strain, rick, crick, pull, dislocate, put out of jointdamage, injure, hurt - 1.2archaic Distort to fit a particular theory or interpretation.to wrench our Bible to make it fit a misconception of facts
- Certainly he would have increased the likelihood of gaining insight had he focused on Nietzsches books rather than on scribbled notes and sentences wrenched from context.
2Turn (something, especially a nut or bolt) with a wrench.
- Therefore, the bolt or nut can be continuously wrenched at one time without troublesome operation.
Origin
Late Old English wrencan 'twist', of unknown origin.
Rhymes
backbench, bench, blench, clench, Dench, drench, entrench, French, frontbench, quench, stench, tench, trench, wench
Definition of wrench in US English:
wrench
nounrɛn(t)ʃren(t)SH
1A sudden violent twist or pull.
with a wrench Tony wriggled free- He ordered a loaf, watched as she slipped it into a bag, twisting the top with a wrench of her wrist.
- A sharp wrench to my shoulder and Jonathan forcibly pulling me to my feet shocked me.
- It is a bit plasticky inside, not helped by the rather dull colours used for the interior trim, but none of the seemingly ill-designed fittings actually came apart of their own accord, only after being given a hard wrench.
- I may venture to say, loosely, that in Judo there is a sort of counter for every twist, wrench, pull, push or bend.
- Jo steeled herself, and with an almighty wrench pulled her legs free of Morgan's vice-like grip.
- Most sprains happen from a sudden wrench or twist.
tug, pull, jerk, jolt, wrest, heave, twist2A feeling of sadness or distress caused by one's own or another's departure.
it will be a real wrench to leave after eight years- Although Jay admits it was a wrench leaving her family she is hoping to be joined by husband Sino, 34, who works for an Indian shipping company and their five-year-old daughter Neha in the spring.
- Mr and Mrs Hoban said: ‘This is a big wrench but we cannot support a party that flouts the UN.’
- This is going to be a huge wrench for me, but it is a huge challenge that I'm looking forward to.
- You know, many people were so loyal to Dan, Peter and Tom, after having been on for over 20 years, that this throws a wrench in everybody's viewing habits.
- Fernandez, who lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Ximena, and one-year-old daughter, Judith, is not being diplomatic when he says that it will be a wrench to leave Livingston.
- The area, on the edge of the Dales, has much to commend it to Dr Hope, and the move from York should not prove too much of a wrench.
- ‘It is a wrench but I would probably not be able to represent my constituents with the energy I had before, so it is time someone a bit younger took it on,’ she said.
- One of the biggest wrenches was having to give up my job.
- The move was a real wrench, and he feels guilty about it even though everyone has told him he has done the right thing.
- Practice manager Sandra Jackson said: ‘We've got a lot of history here and it's really going to be a bit of a wrench, but the new facilities are fantastic.’
- It must be a big wrench for him and the supporters to have a home-bred player leave the club.
- And with a sudden wrench inside of his heart, Ark realised that his friend was gone.
- It will be a bit of a wrench to leave the house the family has had for so long.
- So, as you can imagine, it's a great wrench to be pulling out: I'm emotionally involved now, it's part of me.
- But he and his wife Hillary also face the wrench of leaving behind their three sons, Owen and Daniel, who are in university, and Benjamin, who is still in school.
- It will be a major wrench for the youngster, who has considered the Heslington-based club as his ‘home’ course since arriving at York University three years ago.
- He describes a lonely pitcher: ‘Life outside the diamond is a wrench.’
- The project is for young people aged 13 to 19 but it is such a wrench for older members to leave that they are trained to become volunteer youth workers and so continue their connection with the project.
- There was more gut wrench when he left Liverpool for Real Sociedad in 1989, only to return to Merseyside with Tranmere as a player two years later.
- It's going to be a huge wrench for me and everyone who has been at the offices for years.
painful parting, distressing separation, traumatic event3A tool used for gripping and turning nuts, bolts, pipes, etc.
- Remove the pivot bolt with a wrench and take out the spring - with a screwdriver, if necessary.
- Cray took the wrench and disappeared back under the front end.
- Either faucet can be installed with standard tools, although you may need a basin wrench to reach up to the nuts that hold the faucet to the underside of the sink.
- Feeling the cold steel in his hand, Mario used the wrench to loosen the bolt underneath the sink in the main bathroom of his parents' apartment.
- Use the wrench to tighten the nut, but not too much.
- An adjustable wrench works well to tighten up the hardware that holds the faucet in place.
- Pipe wrenches are necessary to tighten plumbing pipes.
- Put the nuts on the bolts and tighten them a bit with your fingers, then use a wrench and a screwdriver or Allen key to tighten them completely.
- A few quick turns of a wrench and the joints were together.
- Lacking the special wrenches required to remove the bolts that held the wings on, the dockworkers had employed cold chisels on the bolt heads.
- Use either vise grips and a pair of pliers, or a pipe wrench and pliers to remove the old shower head.
- A set of three good quality adjustable wrenches - small, medium and large - will fit a very wide range of nuts and bolts and should be all you'll ever need.
- Jason grabbed a wrench and launched it toward the wall.
- As she entered the garage she spotted Aouri kneeling beside Brigg's motorcycle, tightening something with a wrench.
- This is a very handy pair of pliers because it can be also used as a pipe wrench, adjustable wrench, wire cutter, ratchet, or a clamp.
- When I have to carry a lot of wrenches in an implement toolbox, I can find the one I need quickly by hooking them all on a couple of snap hooks.
- Use the adjustable wrench and tighten all the nuts.
- He pulled the tire wrench from behind the seat, and walked to the back of the truck.
- With a pedal wrench turn the shaft while holding the bike, pedal, and crank steady.
- Use a spoke wrench to tighten spokes that feel loose relative to the others - just so they're about as snug as the two spokes closest to them; don't crank down.
spanner, adjustable spanner4Mechanics
A combination of a couple with a force along its axis.
verbrɛn(t)ʃren(t)SH
[with object]1Pull or twist (someone or something) suddenly and violently.
Casey grabbed the gun and wrenched it upward from my handwith object and complement she wrenched herself free of his gripno object figurative the betrayal wrenched at her heart- She wrenched her wrist away and backed away, trying to gather her wits.
- On days like this I dream of wrenching the machine from the sockets and hauling it off my desk, showering useless pieces of paper and coffee cups and disks all over the cheap government carpet.
- He grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open.
- She wrenched her bedroom door open and walked in, slamming it shut behind her.
- He jumped, sitting bolt upright, and her heart wrenched at the sight of him.
- I carefully put the slip of paper back into my pocket and wrenched the shovel out of the ground.
- Like a flash, Dagnin leaps onto the table and wrenches his sword free.
- My idle hands proceeded to pound, wrench, twist, pry, and yank at anything I could get a hold on.
- With a final tug, Cedric heaved on the crossbow bolt, wrenching it free at last.
- She doesn't just take the stage - she grabs the camera, squeezes its neck like a tube of toothpaste, and wrenches every iota of power and pathos from every cell of her being to captivate the screen.
- Releasing the clutch pedal suddenly, I floored the accelerator, and the wheels spun madly as I wrenched the steering wheel with all my might.
- A few cars had smashed windscreens and the entrails of radios strewn over the seats and onto the pavement where the doors had been wrenched open.
- Jason came in and Jess's heart wrenched at his appearance but she refused to be softened towards him.
- A sudden cold wrenched my stomach, and I fought to keep from crying out.
- His heart wrenched at the sound, for he knew whom it was behind the tears.
- He held his breath and wrenched at the door, but it would not open.
- Suddenly another pain wrenched her heart and she clutched her chest, gasping for air.
- She groped through her pile of dirty clothes for her battered gym shoes and wrenched them on forcefully.
- Forcing a smile onto her face, Alicia grabbed the door handle and wrenched it open.
- The owner of the shovel grunted and wrenched another mound of dirt out of the ground.
tug, pull, jerk, wrest, heave, twist, tear, rip, pluck, grab, seize, snatch, force, take by force, remove by force, prise, peel- 1.1 Injure (a part of the body) as a result of a sudden twisting movement.she slipped and wrenched her ankle
- In an effort not to crush them and/or avoid severe plastic pokey bit perforation of your foot, you will twist one way or the other and thus wrench your ankle.
- I wrenched my ankle on the way out of the compound.
- She wrenched her wrists trying to get them out of Jack's strong grasp.
- Upon getting up, he discovered that he'd wrenched his ankle, and couldn't put much weight on it.
- So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.
- She was badly injured and her spine was wrenched out of place.
- Naturally, I dashed back to the car, and promptly wrenched my ankle.
- A racer from Team Whole Foods Market wrenched her ankle immediately and vanished in the cloud of dust raised by the stampede.
sprain, twist, turn, strain, rick, crick, pull, dislocate, put out of joint - 1.2 Turn (something, especially a nut or bolt) with a wrench.
- Therefore, the bolt or nut can be continuously wrenched at one time without troublesome operation.
- 1.3archaic Distort to fit a particular theory or interpretation.to wrench our Bible to make it fit a misconception of facts
- Certainly he would have increased the likelihood of gaining insight had he focused on Nietzsches books rather than on scribbled notes and sentences wrenched from context.
Phrases
a wrench in (the works)
A person or thing that prevents the successful implementation of a plan.
he has thrown a wrench in the works by saying he would prefer direct elections to happenhis injury has put a wrench in those plansinterfere, interfere with, hinder, hamper, obstruct, disrupt, impede, inhibit, retard, baulk, thwart, foil, curb, delay, set back, slow down, hold back, hold up
Origin
Late Old English wrencan ‘twist’, of unknown origin.