to wrench
15
5.3
- verb
- /rɛntʃ/
:
torcerse
- She felt a sharp pain as she wrenched her wrist while playing sports.
Examples
-
" Susan's heart had wrenched at the pain in her son's eyes.
Fiction book (1991) -
Panicking, Eric tries to pull loose of his seat belt, painfully wrenching his ankle.
Fiction book (1993) -
Two or three times, she tried to wrench herself away and call the police.
Fiction book (1993) -
Did you go dancing?" And here, she manages to wrench her hand free.
Fiction book (1990) -
Her face pales, and she wrenches her hand from my arm.
Fiction book (1996) -
Be that as it may, I feel helplessly wrenched by emotions kept half-buried since childhood.
Fiction book (1995) -
As she lay there, sobs were wrenched from her, shaking her in an abandonment of grief.
Fiction book (1990) -
After a long day, he wrenched his back lifting heavy boxes.
-
As the car skidded on the icy road, he had to wrench the steering wheel to regain control.
Synonyms
152
2.2
To turn a joint or part of your body so it becomes injured
61
3.2
To injure a joint by suddenly twisting it, causing pain and swelling but not a bone break
54
3.7
Twist a joint suddenly so it becomes sore or injured
17
7.5
To twist a body or object into a strange shape
3
5.4
To make a rope, wire or hose bend sharply
To twist part of the body suddenly so it hurts and may sprain
To twist or sprain a body part suddenly, for example an ankle
Antonyms
Idioms
1
8.6
Cause problems on purpose that stop a plan or process from working smoothly
Compounds
6
4.2
A hand tool with a handle and removable metal pieces that fit over and turn nuts and bolts
- Specialized
3
6.8
A tool that measures and applies the right tightness to bolts and nuts
- US
2
4.1
A small L-shaped tool with a six-sided end used to turn bolts with six-sided holes
- Specialized
1
3.7
A large adjustable tool with jaws that have teeth for gripping and turning pipes
- Specialized
A hand tool with a chain loop that grips and turns pipes or other round things
- Specialized
A wrench with a handle shaped like a crank used to turn pipes or round metal parts
- Specialized
A tool with a V-shaped, toothed jaw for gripping and turning pipes or bolts
- Specialized
A tool with a hooked end for turning round nuts or bolt heads without flat sides
- Specialized
A small metal tool with a six-sided bar for turning screws with matching holes
- Specialized
A large metal tool with L-shaped jaws that grip tighter when you push the handle to turn pipes
- Specialized
A tool like an Allen key for turning bolts and screws with six-sided sockets
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Etymology
Wrench comes from an old English idea meaning 'to twist' and is related to the common word wring. So when you wrench a body part you suddenly twist it and often cause sharp pain.