wrench
/ˈɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A distorting change from the original meaning.
Example Sentences
- "With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us."
- "It was difficult indeed for Max to disengage himself from the effusive Spinola's affection without a wrench."
- "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"
- "With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man."
- "Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!"
- "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?"
Etymology
From Middle English wrench, from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wreng- (“to turn”). Compare German Rank (“plot, intrigue”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wrench, wrenċ, *wrankiz, *wreng-, wrenchen, wrenċan
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹɛnt͡ʃ/
- British English: /ˈɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Usage
- Obsolete
- Archaic
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- British usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
Inflected Forms
wrenches (plural)
wrenche (alternative, obsolete)
wrinche (alternative, obsolete)
wringe (alternative, obsolete)
wrenches (present, singular)
wrenching (participle, present)
wrenched (participle, past)
wrenched (past)