to wrest from
11
8.7
- phrasal verb
- /rɛst frʌm/
- The weapon had been wrested from the state and was now wielded by the people.
- wrest power from
- wrest control from
- wrest land from
Examples
-
How do you plan to wrest her from the Wolf People?
Fiction book (1992) -
In many places, aboriginal families had control of their children's education wrested from their hands by missionaries and Indian agents.
Academic text (2004) -
When they were gone, Father wrested the money from my hand.
Fiction book (1997) -
Indeed, some indigenous men even took advantage of Spanish law to wrest property from their wives.
Academic text (1999) -
Southern California struggles to wrest control from Monterey, and no one knows who's in charge.
Fiction book (1991) -
Dennis crossed the sand in two long strides, swung onto Wesley's arm, and wrested the oar from him.
Fiction book (2001) -
He needed to wrest the toy from the dog before it could chew it apart.
-
During the argument, she managed to wrest control of the remote from her brother's hands.
-
The officer had to wrest the suspect's gun away during the struggle.
Synonyms
33
4.5
To pull something off quickly with force
22
7.2
To take someone away by force to ask for money
18
7.6
To take something from someone with great effort or force
14
7.4
Make someone give you something by using pressure or threats
10
8.1
Get something from someone after a lot of effort or pressure
3
6.3
To take control of a place by using violence
1
8.4
Steal something from someone in a secret way
1
9.9
To steal something from someone often by force
Antonyms
How Forceful
11
8.7
∞
2.3
192
3.0
81
4.4
∞
2.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'wrest' (to take with great difficulty or force) with 'from' (indicating the source/starting point), so a learner who knows both constituents will readily infer 'to forcibly take something away from someone'. This verb + preposition composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern in English and is not idiomatic or metaphorically shifted.
Etymology
The phrasal verb wrest from comes from an old image of wrest meaning to twist and pull something out of someone's hands; imagine twisting and pulling until the object comes free. That's why it means 'to take something by force after a struggle'.