# wreck
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: rĕk, IPA: /ˈɹɛk/
** Audio (US):(file)
** Rhymes: -ɛk
* (obsolete, dialectal) enPR: răk, IPA: /ˈɹæk/

### Noun

wreck (plural wrecks)
* Something or someone that has been ruined.
    Synonym: basket case, mess
    He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
* The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
** 1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 277:To the fair haven of my native home, / The vvreck of vvhat I was, fatigued I come, […]
* An event in which something is damaged through collision.
** 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet LVI”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature [D5], verso:Hard and obſtinate, / As is a rocke amidſt the raging floods: / gaynſt vvhich a ſhip of ſuccour deſolate, / doth ſuffer vvreck both of her ſelfe and goods.
** 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1:the wrecks of matter and the crush of worlds
** 1883, John Richard Green, The Conquest of England:Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life.
** (specifically, nautical) A shipwreck: an event in which a ship is heavily damaged or destroyed.
* (law, not countable) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.
** 1985, “Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)”, in Justice Canada‎, retrieved 9 September 2021:2. ... Wreck includes the cargo, stores and tackle of a vessel and all parts of a vessel separated from the vessel, and the property of persons who belong to, are on board or have quitted a vessel that is wrecked, stranded or in distress at any place in Canada.
* (ornithology) A large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather.
** 1988, Michael Cady, Rob Hume, editors, The Complete Book of British Birds, page 89:[I]n 1952 more than 7,000 were involved in such a "wreck" in Britain and Ireland.

#### Synonyms

* crash
* ruins

#### Derived terms

* car wreck
* catch wreck
* nerve-wreck
* nervous wreck
* shipwreck
* train wreck
* wreck car
* wreck grab
* wreck havoc
* wreck of the Hesperus
* wreck shop
* wreck yard

#### Translations
### Verb

wreck (third-person singular simple present wrecks, present participle wrecking, simple past and past participle wrecked)
* (transitive) To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
    He wrecked the car in a collision.
    That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked.
* (transitive) To ruin or dilapidate.
* (transitive, obsolete) To plunder goods from wrecked ships.
* (transitive, Australia) To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts.
* (transitive) To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
** 1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:Weak and envy'd, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves, and he hath his Desire.
* (intransitive) To be involved in a wreck; to be damaged or destroyed.
** 2020, Marti Talbott, McShane's Bride, page 112:[…] Mrs. Marleen Ketchum was not quite certain if the train wrecked or if the volcano blew its top. It took a moment before she was certain it had to be the passenger train.

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:destroy

#### Antonyms

* build
* construct
* make
* produce

#### Derived terms

* bewreck
* check yourself before you wreck yourself
* wreckage
* wrecker
* wreck the hoose juice

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Krapp, George Philip (1925) The English Language in America‎, volume II, New York: Century Co. for the Modern Language Association of America, →OCLC, page 92.

### Further reading

* “wreck”, in Collins English Dictionary.
* “wreck”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “wreck”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “wreck”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.