Wrench

How to spell wrench

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce wrench

What does wrench mean?

1. verbTo pull or twist something suddenly and forcibly.
2. nounA hand tool used to grip and turn nuts, bolts, or pipes.
3. nounA sudden feeling of distress or sadness, often at parting.

Wrench in a sentence

• verb

  He had to wrench the rusted lid off the jar.

• noun

  He reached for a wrench to tighten the loose bolt.

• noun

  Leaving the family home was a real wrench for them.

• verb

  She tried to wrench her arm free of his grip.

• noun

  The mechanic kept an adjustable wrench in the top drawer.

• noun

  Saying goodbye at the airport gave her a sharp wrench.

Where does wrench come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Wrench comes from the Old English verb wrencan, meaning 'to twist' or 'to turn sharply', which traces back to a Germanic root tied to twisting and winding. The same family gave English the word 'wring' (as in wringing out a wet cloth), and you can feel that shared idea of twisting force in both. For centuries the word described any violent twist or wrenching pull, and the sense of emotional pain (a wrench of grief) grew naturally from that idea of something being painfully torn away. The tool sense, a spanner used to grip and twist bolts, is a later development, recorded from the early 1800s, named for the twisting action it performs. The spelling keeps the old silent w- that once was pronounced in Old English, which is exactly the letter modern writers tend to drop, and it sits alongside its cousins 'wring', 'wrist', and 'write'.

How the word is built

• wrench (from Old English wrencan: to twist), retained as a whole root with the silent w-