wrench
pronunciation
How to pronounce wrench in British English:
UK [rentʃ]
How to pronounce wrench in American English:
US [rentʃ]
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- Noun:
- a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments
- a jerky pulling movement
- a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt
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- Verb:
- twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates
- make a sudden twisting motion
- twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish
- twist suddenly so as to sprain
Word Origin
- wrench (v.)
- Old English wrencan "to twist," from Proto-Germanic *wrankjan (cognates: Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (cognates: Sanskrit vrnakti "turns, twists," Lithuanian rengtis "to grow crooked, to writhe"), nasalized variant of *werg- "to turn" (cognates: Latin vergere "to turn, tend toward"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Related: Wrenched, wrenching.
- wrench (n.)
- Old English wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws at one end for turning or holding" is first recorded 1794.
Example
- 1. Click on the wrench icon to change its settings .
- 2. Suddenly a bike slams into my right leg ; I drop the wrench .
- 3. Adjustable wrench for turning off gas and water .
- 4. Remarkable : the finished wrench is pulled out of the powder tray
- 5. Wrench jockeys : undergrads tinker with a prototype laser ignition system on an industrial caterpillar engine .