What is "wrench"

Wrench \Wrench\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrenched; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrenching.] [OE. wrenchen, AS. wrencan to deceive, properly, to twist, from wrenc guile, deceit, a twisting. ????. See Wrench, n.]

1. To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence.

   Wrench his sword from him.
   --Shak.

   Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a woeful agony.
   --Coleridge.

2. To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert.

   You wrenched your foot against a stone.
   --Swift.

Wrench \Wrench\ (r[e^]nch), n. [OE. wrench deceit, AS. wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. wring. [root]144. See Wring, and cf. Ranch, v. t.]

1. Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. [Obs.]

   His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee.
   --Chaucer.

2. A violent twist, or a pull with twisting.

   He wringeth them such a wrench.
   --Skelton.

   The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused everywhere.
   --De Quincey.

3. A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint.

4. Means; contrivance. [Obs.]
   --Bacon.

5. An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes.

6. (Mech.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench.

   Carriage wrench, a wrench adapted for removing or tightening the nuts that confine the wheels on the axles, or for turning the other nuts or bolts of a carriage or wagon.

   Monkey wrench. See under Monkey.

   Wrench hammer, a wrench with the end shaped so as to admit of being used as a hammer.

Old English wrencan "to twist," from Proto-Germanic *wrankjan (cognates: Old High German renken, German renken "to twist, wrench," Old English wringan "to wring"), from PIE *wreng- "to turn" (cognates: Sanskrit vrnakti "turns, twists," Lithuanian rengtis "to grow crooked, to writhe"), nasalized variant of *werg- "to turn" (cognates: Latin vergere "to turn, tend toward"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Related: Wrenched, wrenching.

Old English wrenc "a twisting, artifice, trick;" see wrench (v.). The meaning "tool with jaws at one end for turning or holding" is first recorded 1794.

alt. 1 (context obsolete English) A trick or artifice. (From VIII century.) 2 (context obsolete English) Deceit; guile; treachery. (From XIII century.) 3 A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug. (From XVI century.) 4 An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain. (From XVI century.) 5 (context obsolete English) A turn at an acute angle. (From XVI century.) 6 (context archaic English) A winch or windlass. (From XVI century.) 7 (context obsolete English) A screw. (From XVI century.) 8 A distorting change from the original meaning. (From XVII century.) 9 (context US English) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner. (From XVIII century.) 10 A violent emotional change caused by separation. (From XIX century.) 11 (context physics English) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body. (From XIX century.) 12 (context obsolete English) means; contrivance n. 1 (context obsolete English) A trick or artifice. (From VIII century.) 2 (context obsolete English) Deceit; guile; treachery. (From XIII century.) 3 A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug. (From XVI century.) 4 An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain. (From XVI century.) 5 (context obsolete English) A turn at an acute angle. (From XVI century.) 6 (context archaic English) A winch or windlass. (From XVI century.) 7 (context obsolete English) A screw. (From XVI century.) 8 A distorting change from the original meaning. (From XVII century.) 9 (context US English) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner. (From XVIII century.) 10 A violent emotional change caused by separation. (From XIX century.) 11 (context physics English) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body. (From XIX century.) 12 (context obsolete English) means; contrivance vb. 1 (context intransitive obsolete English) To violently move in a turn or writhe. (From XI century.) 2 (context transitive English) To pull or twist violently. (From XIII century.) 3 (context transitive obsolete English) To turn aside or deflect. (From XIII century.) 4 (context transitive obsolete English) To slander. (From XIV century.) 5 (context transitive obsolete English) To tighten with or as if with a winch. (From XVI century.) 6 (context transitive English) To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting. (From XVI century.) 7 (context transitive English) To distort from the original meaning. (From XVI century.) 8 (context transitive obsolete English) To thrust a weapon in a twisting motion. (From XVI century.) 9 (context intransitive fencing obsolete English) To disarm an opponent by whirling his or her blade away. (From XVIII century.) 10 (context transitive English) To rack with pain. (From XVIII century.) 11 (context transitive English) To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist. (From XVIII century.) 12 (context transitive English) To use the tool known as a wrench. (From XIX century.)

1. n. a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments; "the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell"; "he was sidelined with a hamstring pull" [syn: twist, pull]

2. a jerky pulling movement [syn: twist]

3. a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt [syn: spanner]

4. v. twist or pull violently or suddenly, especially so as to remove (something) from that to which it is attached or from where it originates; "wrench a window off its hinges"; "wrench oneself free from somebody's grip"; "a deep sigh was wrenched from his chest" [syn: twist]

5. make a sudden twisting motion

6. twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish; "Wring one's hand" [syn: wring]

7. twist suddenly so as to sprain; "wrench one's ankle"; "The wrestler twisted his shoulder"; "the hikers sprained their ankles when they fell"; "I turned my ankle and couldn't walk for several days" [syn: twist, sprain, turn, wrick, rick]

A wrench or spanner is a type of hand tool.

Wrench may also refer to:

• Wrench (comics), a fictional character in the Marvel Universe
• Wrench (surname)
• Wrench (screw theory), in applied mathematics and physics
• "Wrench", a song by Welsh band Funeral for a Friend

Wrench is a surname, and may refer to:

• Benjamin Wrench (1778–1843), English actor
• Christopher Wrench (born 1958), Australian organist and lecturer
• David Wrench (rugby league) (born 1978), English Rugby League footballer
• David Wrench (singer), Welsh singer
• Edward Thomas Jones Wrench (1828–1893), Australian businessman
• Evelyn Wrench (1882–1966), British journalist
• John Wrench (1911–2009), American mathematician
• Nigel Wrench (born 1960), English radio presenter
• Sarah Wrench (1833-1848), reputed witch buried at East Mersea

A wrench (or spanner outside of North America) is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning.

In Commonwealth English (excluding Canada), spanner is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-ended spanner and ring spanner. The term wrench is generally used for tools that turn non-fastening devices (e.g. tap wrench and pipe wrench), or may be used for a monkey wrench - an adjustable spanner.

In North American English, wrench is the standard term. The most common shapes are called open-end wrench and box-end wrench. In American English, spanner refers to a specialised wrench with a series of pins or tabs around the circumference. (These pins or tabs fit into the holes or notches cut into the object to be turned.) In American commerce, such a wrench may be called a spanner wrench to distinguish it from the British sense of spanner.

Higher quality wrenches are typically made from chromium- vanadium alloy tool steels and are often drop-forged. They are frequently chrome-plated to resist corrosion and for ease of cleaning.

Hinged tools, such as pliers or tongs, are not generally considered wrenches in English, but exceptions are the plumber wrench (pipe wrench in British English) and Mole wrench (sometimes Mole grips in British English).