as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
it's amazing how a raging sea can wrack a seemingly sturdy beachfront home
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Recent Examples of wracking
Reuters — American golfer Vince Whaley had a particularly nerve-wracking encounter with a big-toothed onlooker at the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday, as he was forced to play a shot under the watchful gaze of a lurking alligator.
—
Reuters, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
Proposing marriage is one of the most-exciting and nerve-wracking times for a couple, for both the proposer and their intended.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
After that harrowing hike up the boulder field, the nerve-wracking exposure of our search site has pushed even this steadfast high-drive purebred over threshold.
—Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
With Lionsgate‘s nerve-wracking new horror movie, the multi-faceted actress is now on her second Stephen King adaptation — opening in theaters September 12.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2025
Here, tackling a masterpiece felt like a more complex, more nerve-wracking experience.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
Air conditioning was probably a good idea for the three contestants who were formally dressed and answered nerve-wracking pageant questions.
—Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
After a week of monitoring their usual intake with smart bottles and fluid diaries, the volunteers returned to the lab to take part in the Trier Social Stress Test, which mimics a nerve-wracking job interview where participants give a speech and perform mental arithmetic while being observed.
—New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
What followed for the rest of the demo was a complex and nerve-wracking chase sequence.
—David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Reuters, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
Proposing marriage is one of the most-exciting and nerve-wracking times for a couple, for both the proposer and their intended.
—Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
After that harrowing hike up the boulder field, the nerve-wracking exposure of our search site has pushed even this steadfast high-drive purebred over threshold.
—Ted Katauskas, Outside, 23 Sep. 2025
With Lionsgate‘s nerve-wracking new horror movie, the multi-faceted actress is now on her second Stephen King adaptation — opening in theaters September 12.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2025
Here, tackling a masterpiece felt like a more complex, more nerve-wracking experience.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
Air conditioning was probably a good idea for the three contestants who were formally dressed and answered nerve-wracking pageant questions.
—Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
After a week of monitoring their usual intake with smart bottles and fluid diaries, the volunteers returned to the lab to take part in the Trier Social Stress Test, which mimics a nerve-wracking job interview where participants give a speech and perform mental arithmetic while being observed.
—New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
What followed for the rest of the demo was a complex and nerve-wracking chase sequence.
—David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wracking
Verb
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The county was also heavily affected by the 2021 floods that swept most of Middle Tennessee, with high waters washing away multiple roads and even destroying a church in the Pinewood community, according to previous Tennessean reporting.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
10 Oct. 2025
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Just two years earlier, devastating floods swept through Middle Tennessee, damaging infrastructure and destroying a church in Pinewood.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Or pursue the rancid criminal element across the galaxy as a bounty hunter, making your fortune by ruining bad guys' lives.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
7 Oct. 2025
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So much so that the official Carol Burnett Show YouTube channel has several 15-minute salutes of Burnett, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, and others busting up and ruining the bit.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For leftovers, there’s a set of glass Pyrex containers that can be placed in the freezer or microwave with no worries about shattering.—
Shea Simmons,
Southern Living,
5 Oct. 2025
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So to decide whether to marry or move on for good, one person issues an ultimatum, kicking off a potentially relationship-shattering experiment.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Not even a month had passed since his big sister, Toraya, was shot and killed at an apartment complex in New Jersey, devastating the Reid family and shaking the Timberwolves organization to its core.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
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Oil was discovered there in the 1920s, and the county went through booms and busts for decades, enriching wildcatters and devastating the landscape, until a lasting bust left Loving County a virtual wasteland with no running water, paved roads, schools, hospitals, or grocery stores.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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One raid saw masked federal agents repelling from Black Hawk helicopters and wrecking an apartment building.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
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The wrecking-ball style is the way King played even at Longview (Texas) High, where his father was the coach, and didn’t coddle or protect his son, as Dickey remembers.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Barner holds his arms parallel to the ground and swings them side to side while slowly stomping forward like Godzilla demolishing a city.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
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Often, demolishing a former shopping mall can be easier for builders who might then decide to build luxury housing that does not address the current affordability crisis.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The 28-year-old provided another example with his second goal of the game, beating Robin Koch and smashing Bayern’s third into the top corner, late in the second half.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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In addition to smashing the Machine, Swift also easily soared over Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed One Battle After Another, the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring drama that fell to second place in week two.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The other notable incident of the first half was one person overcoming the tight security measures to reach the pitch.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
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Leaper Williams, a Lawrence High graduate who started working at KU at 16, emerged as one of KU football’s most recognizable employees through the years, overcoming a development impairment due to anoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain, at birth.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wracking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wracking. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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