to wrest

Examples

• All

• Brown and Riley had wrested Covert's gun away from him and killed him with it.

  Fiction book (1992)

• But now you have wrested the information from me.

  The Ladykillers (2004)

• And they did wrest control of Reconstruction away from Andrew Johnson.

• Indeed, some indigenous men even took advantage of Spanish law to wrest property from their wives.

  Academic text (1999)

• Late in November, the British had finally wrested control of the rivers from the Americans.

  Fiction book (1994)

• Alberta finally appeared to wrest control over its resource curse in the 1990s.

  Academic text (2017)

• Even efforts that were made to relocate such leaders and wrest them from their regional power bases were unsuccessful.

  Academic text (2011)

• Southern California struggles to wrest control from Monterey, and no one knows who's in charge.

  Fiction book (1991)

• She engaged in a great battle with the tyrant mermaid and wrested away the Trident.

  Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

• With a violent yank that sent his accuser tumbling onto the sidewalk, Johnny wrested his body free.

  Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

W

to wring

vsto wrest

24 7.4

Make someone give you something by using pressure or threats

is more about taking by great effort or determined struggle often violently

W

to wrest control

vsto wrest

4 7.7

To take control from someone by force or strong effort

is broader and applies to taking any thing after a hard struggle

W

to wrest from

vsto wrest

4 8.7

To force something away from someone after a struggle

is more general and applies to taking any thing after a hard struggle

W

to wring from

vsto wrest

2 8.1

Get something from someone after a lot of effort or pressure

is stronger and stresses force or violent struggle rather than persuasion

Antonyms

G

to give

∞ 1.0

To hand something to someone, for example a present

R

return

231 1.0

An act of giving something back to its owner

Phrasal Verbs

W

to wrest control

4 7.7

To take control from someone by force or strong effort

W

to wrest from

4 8.7

To force something away from someone after a struggle

How Forceful

to wrest

• Formal

17 7.6

to seize

• Formal

156 4.6

to snatch

136 3.0

grab

59 1.0

to take

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology