wrest

1 of 2

verb

ˈrest 

wrested; wresting; wrests

transitive verb

1

: to pull, force, or move by violent wringing or twisting movements

2

: to gain with difficulty by or as if by force, violence, or determined labor

wrest

2 of 2

noun

1

: the action of wresting : wrench

2

archaic : a key or wrench used for turning pins in a stringed instrument (such as a piano)

Synonyms of wrest

Verb

• pry
• pull
• extract
• yank
• pluck

Examples of wrest in a Sentence

Verb

He tried to wrest control of the company from his uncle.

the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Bolstered by the prospect of an additional four seats in Virginia, Democrats had been increasingly bullish about their ability to wrest the House of Representatives from Republican control. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 8 May 2026

Because with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven playoff series, the Ducks evened the series at a win apiece and wrested home-ice advantage away from the division champions. —Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026

Noun

At play here is the effort by the Democrats to wrest control of the 435-member U.S House from the Republicans in November and impeach President Donald Trump. —Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 27 Apr. 2026

All 435 seats in the House and 33 seats in the Senate are up for grabs in November, and Democrats are gunning to wrest back control of Congress from the GOP in both chambers. —Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English wrasten, wresten, from Old English wrǣstan; akin to Old Norse reista to bend and probably to Old English wrigian to turn — more at wry

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for wrest

• blessed
• blest
• breast
• chest
• crest
• dressed
• fest
• gest
• geste
• guessed
• jest
• lest

Kids Definition

wrest

verb

ˈrest

1

: to pull, force, or move by violent wringing or twisting movements

2

: to gain by or as if by force or violence

wrest power from the king