pipe wrench
1
3.7
- noun
- /paɪp rɛntʃ/
- Specialized
:
llave de tubo
- He had slammed the pipe wrench into the photo, shattering it, beating it to pieces, not knowing why it made him angry.
Examples
-
The pipe wrench he carried had some gooey brown stuff matted on its jaws.
Fiction book (1999) -
Tully became aware again of the pipe wrench in his hand.
Fiction book (1991) -
Because if your crank sees the light of day in there, I will cut it off with a rusty pipe wrench.
-
Over his shoulder, we see Corky already swinging a massive pipe wrench.
Fiction book (1996) -
Pipe wrench.
-
We were wary because the least thing could send Red nuclear, flinging pipe wrenches, cursing, and once in a while hurting himself.
Fiction book (1999) -
He switched off the grinder and walked out with a pipe wrench dangling from his hand.
Fiction book (1991) -
He used a pipe wrench to tighten the loose fitting on the water pipe.
-
To fix the leaky faucet, you will need a pipe wrench to grip and turn the pipes.
-
With a pipe wrench in hand, she carefully adjusted the water supply line.
Synonyms
∞
1.1
A thing you hold to do a job, like a hammer
60
2.5
A hand tool with a shaped opening that grips and turns nuts and bolts
2
3.0
A tool with one fixed and one movable jaw that grips and turns bolts
1
3.0
A tool with a movable jaw that fits different sizes of nuts and bolts
A tool with two jaws that have teeth and that grips and turns pipes
A large metal tool with L-shaped jaws that grip tighter when you push the handle to turn pipes
A wrench with a handle shaped like a crank used to turn pipes or round metal parts
A hand tool with a chain loop that grips and turns pipes or other round things
A tool that turns nuts and bolts to make them tight or loose
A tool with a movable jaw that fits nuts and bolts of different sizes
A hand tool with a moving joint and jaws for gripping different sizes
How Strong
- Specialized
1
3.7
- Specialized
1
4.6
- Specialized
- US
1
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently compositional: 'pipe' (a tubular conduit) + 'wrench' (a hand tool for gripping/turning) clearly yields a tool for turning pipes. This noun-compound pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Pipe wrench gets its name from its job: it's a wrench made for pipes. Its adjustable jaws 'bite' into the round metal so the tool can 'grip and turn' the pipe.