# wrench
## English
### Alternative forms

* wrenche, wrinche, wringe (obsolete)

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: rĕnch IPA: /ɹɛnt͡ʃ/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛntʃ

### Etymology 1

From Middle English wrench, from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz (“a turning, twisting”). Compare German Rank (“plot, intrigue”).

#### Noun

wrench (plural wrenches)
* A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug. [from 16th c.]
** 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.
* An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain. [from 16th c.]
* (obsolete) A trick or artifice. [from 8th c.]
* (obsolete) Deceit; guile; treachery. [from 13th c.]
* (obsolete) A turn at an acute angle. [from 16th c.]
* (archaic) A winch or windlass. [from 16th c.]
* (obsolete) A screw. [from 16th c.]
* A distorting change from the original meaning. [from 17th c.]
* (US, Philippines) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner. [from 18th c.]
    Synonym: (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Commonwealth) spanner
* (UK) An adjustable spanner used by plumbers.
* A violent emotional change caused by separation. [from 19th c.]
* (physics) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body. [from 19th c.]
* (obsolete) means; contrivance
** 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:But weighing one thing with another he gave Britain for lost; but resolved to make his profit of this business of Britain, as a quarrel for war; and that of Naples, as a wrench and mean for peace
* In coursing, the act of bringing the hare round at less than a right angle, worth half a point in the recognised code of points for judging.

##### Derived terms

* adjustable wrench
* Allen wrench
* alligator wrench
* bicycle wrench
* dog bone wrench
* flare nut wrench
* flare-nut wrench
* hex head wrench
* hook wrench
* key wrench
* monkey-wrench, monkey wrench, monkeywrench
* nipple wrench
* nut wrench
* pipe wrench
* plumber wrench
* ratchet wrench
* ring wrench
* screw wrench
* smoke wrench
* socket wrench
* spanner wrench
* spider wrench
* spoke wrench
* Stillson wrench
* Swedish wrench
* tension wrench
* throw a monkey wrench in the works
* throw a monkey wrench into the works
* throw a wrench in
* throw a wrench in the gears
* throw a wrench in the works
* throw a wrench into the works
* torque wrench
* torsion wrench
* tube wrench
* tuning wrench
* wrench hammer
* wrench in the works
* wrenchman

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From Middle English wrenchen, from Old English wrenċan, from Proto-Germanic *wrankijaną. Compare German renken.

#### Verb

wrench (third-person singular simple present wrenches, present participle wrenching, simple past and past participle wrenched)
* (transitive) To pull or twist violently. [from 13th c.]
    With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.
* (transitive) To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting. [from 16th c.]
    Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
* (transitive) To distort the original meaning of; to misrepresent. [from 16th c.]
* (transitive) To rack with pain; to be hurt or distressed. [from 18th c.]
* (transitive) To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist. [from 18th c.]
* (transitive) To use a wrench; to twist with a wrench. [from 19th c.]
    The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.
* (intransitive, obsolete) To violently move in a turn or writhe. [11th-18th c.]
* (transitive, obsolete) To tighten with or as if with a winch. [16th-19th c.]
** 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 173–174:[S]end me that hag hither; she shall avouch what it was that she hath given to the wretch Dryfesdale, or the pilniewinks and thumbikins shall wrench it out of her finger-joints.
* (transitive, obsolete) To thrust a weapon in a twisting motion. [16th c.]
* (intransitive, fencing, obsolete) To disarm an opponent by whirling his or her blade away. [18th c.]

##### Translations
### References

* “wrench, n.$^1$”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Further reading

* wrench on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* Category:Wrenches on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* wrenk, wrynk, wrynke
* wrænch, wrenc, wreinch (Early Middle English)

### Etymology

Inherited from Old English wrenċ, from Proto-West Germanic *wranki, from Proto-Germanic *wrankiz.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /wrɛnt͡ʃ/, /wrɛnk/

### Noun

wrench (plural wrenches or wrenche)
* A trick or artifice; a deceptive action.
** a. 1250, Death’s wither-clench (IMEV 2070, Cotton MS. Caligula A. IX)‎, archived from the original on 2 May 2023, folio 246, recto; republished at London: British Library Digitised Manuscripts, c. 2015:Non mai longe liues ƿene: Ac ofte hi[m] lieð þe wrench. Feir ƿeð[er] turneð ofte i[n]to reine […]People may expect long lives, but a trick often betrays them; fair weather often turns into rain […]
* Trickery, deception, guile.

#### Related terms

* wrenchen

#### Descendants

* English: wrench
* Middle Scots: wrenk, wrink

#### References

* “wrench, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.