wrench

Plural: wrenches

Noun

• a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments
  • "the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell"
• a jerky pulling movement
• a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt
• A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.
• An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.
• A trick or artifice.
• Deceit; guile; treachery.
• A turn at an acute angle.
• A winch or windlass.
• A screw.
• A distorting change from the original meaning.
• A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes.
• An adjustable spanner used by plumbers.
• A violent emotional change caused by separation.
• In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body.
• means; contrivance
• 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.

Verb

Verb Forms: wrenched, wrenching, wrenches

• To twist or pull suddenly and forcibly.
• 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"
• make a sudden twisting motion
• twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish
• twist suddenly so as to sprain
  • "wrench one's ankle"
• To pull or twist violently.
• To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.
• To distort the original meaning of; to misrepresent.
• To rack with pain; to make hurt or distressed.
• To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist.
• To use a wrench; to twist with a wrench.
• To violently move in a turn or writhe.
• To tighten with or as if with a winch.
• To thrust (a weapon) in a twisting motion.
• To disarm an opponent by whirling their blade away.

Examples

• Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
• He had to wrench his mind to remember a seven-letter word starting with ’Q’.
• The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.
• With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.

Synonyms

pull, rick, spanner, sprain, turn, twist, wrick, wring

Anagrams of wrench