Crossword clues for wreak
wreak
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wreak \Wreak\, n. [Cf. AS. wr[ae]c exile, persecution, misery.
See Wreak, v. t.]
Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment. [Obs.]
--Shak. Spenser.
Wreak \Wreak\, v. i.
To reck; to care. [Obs.]
--Shak.
Wreak \Wreak\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wreaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Wreaking.] [OE. wrek?? to revenge, punish, drive out, AS. wrecan; akin to OFries. wreka, OS. wrekan to punish, D. wreken to avenge, G. r["a]chen, OHG. rehhan, Icel. reka to drive, to take vengeance, Goth. wrikan to persecute, Lith. vargas distress, vargti to suffer distress, L. urgere to drive, urge, Gr. ? to shut, Skr. ? to turn away. Cf. Urge, Wreck, Wretch.]
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To revenge; to avenge. [Archaic]
He should wreake him on his foes.
--Chaucer.Another's wrongs to wreak upon thyself.
--Spenser.Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain.
--Fairfax. -
To execute in vengeance or passion; to inflict; to hurl or drive; as, to wreak vengeance on an enemy.
On me let Death wreak all his rage.
--Milton.Now was the time to be avenged on his old enemy, to wreak a grudge of seventeen years.
--Macaulay.But gather all thy powers, And wreak them on the verse that thou dost weave.
--Bryant.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Old English wrecan "avenge," originally "to drive, drive out, punish" (class V strong verb; past tense wræc, past participle wrecen), from Proto-Germanic *wrekan (cognates: Old Saxon wrekan, Old Norse reka, Old Frisian wreka, Middle Dutch wreken "to drive, push, compel, pursue, throw," Old High German rehhan, German rächen "to avenge," Gothic wrikan "to persecute"), from PIE root *wreg- "to push, shove, drive, track down" (see urge (v.)). Meaning "inflict or take vengeance," with on, is recorded from late 15c.; that of "inflict or cause (damage or destruction)" is attested from 1817. Compare wrack (v.). Related: Wreaked; wreaking.
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 vb. 1 (context transitive English) To cause, inflict or let out, especially if causing harm or injury. 2 (context archaic English) To inflict or take vengeance on. Etymology 2
n. 1 (context archaic literary English) revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment. 2 (context archaic literary English) punishment; retribution; payback.
WordNet
Usage examples of "wreak".
Jenny knew traumatic personal relationships could wreak havoc with her goal to take her company public and conquer the agoraphobia once and for all.
No, he would wreak destruction all over the industrialized world, or perhaps sell some of it himself.
Meliboeus of might, of power, of riches, and of friends, despising the power of his adversaries: and said utterly, that he anon should wreak him on his foes, and begin war.
Besides the Nun, our female members include a sinister Virgin Huntress who seems to have wreaked mayhem or worse on one of the auberge counselors in order to qualify as a recidivist, and an extremely cautious ex-Meta Lady who is, at the moment at least, content to remain just one of the boys.
For the souls of the dead take it very ill and wreak their spite on the survivors, if their death is not avenged on their enemies.
ICE WATER AND BOMBS While Ronnie Bucca began his first weeks on the job as an FDNY fire marshal, Ramzi Yousef was halfway around the world plotting to use his skills as a bomb maker to wreak havoc for the jihad.
Just as the protesters moved toward the veranda in a seething body bent on wreaking destruction upon the two women, Dancy, and anything else that stood in their way, a stout figure in dark clothing mounted the steps to stand beside Dancy.
Full she drad that God the Wreaker all mankind would fordo with water for his evil sins.
No one, including her Expansionist advisors, could predict the economic havoc they would wreak.
By forcibly feminizing him, she hopes to show that she is more powerful than he, and that she can wreak havoc on his nascent masculinity anytime she pleases.
Anna Funder reduces those numbers to particulars and finds herself shaken by the damage wreaked by the surveillance state on individual lives.
They still carry an oversized ax and can wreak as bloodily afoot as ever they could, but now they wear half-armor and carry pistols, swords, fuzees, and, sometimes, even darts or throwing axes.
This was the thrilling part, heading off to yet another site, somewhere in North America, flitting from one place to the next to see what new, weird manifestations the gazer would wreak.
I will leave you alone, so that you can wreak all your wrath upon him, provided you will allow me to be, unknown to him, in the next room, as I shall regard myself as responsible for his safety.
He loathed all faith beside his own, and pined To wreak his fear of Heaven in vengeance on mankind.