Wrench Meaning
/ˈɹɛnt͡ʃ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.
nounAn injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.
Sentence Examples
Hand me the wrench.
Factional in-fighting threw a monkey wrench into the deliberations.
Tom came in with a wrench in his hand.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To remove the rusted nut, he grabbed a ____ from his toolbox.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a metal ____ to tighten the bolt on the bicycle frame before he went for his ride today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English wrench, from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wreng- (“to turn”). Compare German Rank (“plot, intrigue”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us."
— 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
"It was difficult indeed for Max to disengage himself from the effusive Spinola's affection without a wrench."
— 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
"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"
— 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:
"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?"
— 2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 191:
"[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."
— 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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To remove the rusted nut, he grabbed a ____ from his toolbox.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a metal ____ to tighten the bolt on the bicycle frame before he went for his ride today.