wrench

noun

1. A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.

   “With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.”

   “It was difficult indeed for Max to disengage himself from the effusive Spinola's affection without a wrench.”

2. An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.
3. (obsolete)A trick or artifice.
4. (obsolete)Deceit; guile; treachery.
5. (obsolete)A turn at an acute angle.
6. (archaic)A winch or windlass.
7. (obsolete)A screw.
8. A distorting change from the original meaning.
9. (Canada, Philippines, US)A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes.
10. (UK)An adjustable spanner used by plumbers.
11. A violent emotional change caused by separation.
12. In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body.
13. (obsolete)means; contrivance

    “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”

14. 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.

verb

1. (transitive)To pull or twist violently.

   “With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.”

2. (transitive)To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.

   “Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!”

3. (transitive)To distort the original meaning of; to misrepresent.
4. (transitive)To rack with pain; to make hurt or distressed.

   “And what actinic, mind-wrenching form could the countermeme take? How could human hands assemble something so devastatingly powerful and hold it steady; what human mind could wield it without exploding from the inside out?”

5. (transitive)To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist.
6. (transitive)To use a wrench; to twist with a wrench.

   “The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.”

7. (intransitive, obsolete)To violently move in a turn or writhe.
8. (obsolete, transitive)To tighten with or as if with a winch.

   “[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.”

9. (obsolete, transitive)To thrust (a weapon) in a twisting motion.
10. (intransitive, obsolete)To disarm an opponent by whirling their blade away.

name

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.