wrested; wresting; wrests
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
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
Kate Payne, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 May 2025
Teddy tries to defend himself with a giant knife, which Joe wrests out of his hands, just in time for poor Henry to see the whole scuffle from the stairs.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
Alas, that momentum didn’t last long — the Divers tacked on two goals over 1:44 to wrest momentum away for the night.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wrest
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Verb
The prospect of the DeSantis administration wresting more control over the HBCU plays into longstanding anxieties that the state could cut into some of the university’s signature programs — or even merge the school with FSU, an idea lawmakers contemplated in the 1960s.
—Kate Payne, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 May 2025
Teddy tries to defend himself with a giant knife, which Joe wrests out of his hands, just in time for poor Henry to see the whole scuffle from the stairs.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
Noun
Carter attempts to wrest control of his life by controlling the manner of his death.
—Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
Alas, that momentum didn’t last long — the Divers tacked on two goals over 1:44 to wrest momentum away for the night.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wrest
Cite this Entry
“Wrest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrest. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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