Definition: wrench
wrench
n 1: a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments; "the wrench to his
knee occurred as he fell"; "he was sidelined with a
hamstring pull" [syn: twist, pull]
2: a jerky pulling movement [syn: twist]
3: a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt
[syn: spanner]
v 1: twist or pull violently or suddenly, esp. so as to remove
(something) from that to which it is attached; "wrench a
window off its hinges"; "wrench oneself free from
somebody's grip"; also metaphorically: "a deep sigh was
wrenched from his chest" [syn: twist]
2: make a sudden twisting motion
3: twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish; "Wring one's
hand" [syn: wring]
4: twist suddenly so as to sprain; "wrench one's ankle"; "The
wrestler twisted his shoulder"; "the hikers sprained their
ankles when they fell"; "I turned my ankle and couldn't
walk for several days" [syn: twist, sprain, turn, wrick,
rick]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Wrench \Wrench\ (r[e^]nch), n. [OE. wrench deceit, AS. wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. wring. [root]144. See Wring, and cf. Ranch, v. t.] 1. Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. [Obs.] His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee. --Chaucer. 2. A violent twist, or a pull with twisting. He wringeth them such a wrench. --Skelton. The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused everywhere. --De Quincey. 3. A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint. 4. Means; contrivance. [Obs.] --Bacon. 5. An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes. 6. (Mech.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench. Carriage wrench, a wrench adapted for removing or tightening the nuts that confine the wheels on the axles, or for turning the other nuts or bolts of a carriage or wagon. Monkey wrench. See under Monkey. Wrench hammer, a wrench with the end shaped so as to admit of being used as a hammer.
Wrench \Wrench\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrenched; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrenching.] [OE. wrenchen, AS. wrencan to deceive, properly, to twist, from wrenc guile, deceit, a twisting. ????. See Wrench, n.] 1. To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence. Wrench his sword from him. --Shak. Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony. --Coleridge. 2. To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert. You wrenched your foot against a stone. --Swift.
