wrenched

verb

past tense of wrench
1
as in pulled
to move by or as if by a forceful rotation with one last sharp yank, he wrenched the lid off the bottle of ketchup

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in damaged
to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure wrenched her shoulder by all of that heavy lifting

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in yanked
to separate or remove by forceful pulling wrenched the post out of the ground

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wrenched The bit caught a pipe strap and wrenched him off a ladder, tearing off his thumb and mangling his hand. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026 The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after passengers stormed the cockpit and wrenched back controlfrom the attacker, who Israeli officials suspect was trying to crash the plane. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026 The driver wrenched the Jeep to the left, arm over arm churning at the wheel. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 After her Acura was rear-ended in May 2022, a car crash that wrenched her neck and back, Samantha Roper sought out a chiropractor. — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026 The sibling drama, meanwhile, rather fades out of view amid these loftier goings-on; the film’s narrative begins to feel devised by the old parlor game Consequences, repeatedly wrenched in erratic new directions. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026 Miriam had given her a heavy coat and wrenched open the silver door. — Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026 On a moonless night, that Alpha team crept silently from the statue’s belly and wrenched open the gates of Troy, decisively ending the war in their favor. — Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 15 July 2026 Henley wrenched away from her mother's grip, turned, and darted up the stairs again, leaving Emily and Kate in startled silence. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrenched
  1. pulled
  2. yanked
  3. tugged
  4. tore
  5. jerked
  6. grabbed
  7. plucked
  8. ripped
Verb
  • Shohei Ohtani emerged from the visiting dugout at American Family Field with a bat in his hand, and the mass of media members scattered in foul territory up the third-base line shifted his way, pulled by the magnetic force that is Ohtani’s stardom.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • On Wednesday, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republicans' super PAC, effectively dropped its push to boost Tijerina and pulled millions of dollars in ads from the district, a person familiar with the decision confirmed.
    — Justin Papp, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of pulled
Verb
  • Ignoring that rule could get flood insurance coverage yanked for an entire community.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Wi-Fi is not free on those services; T-Mobile used to comp at least an hour of connectivity for subscribers, but quietly yanked that benefit in April.
    — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of yanked
Verb
  • The wind tugged and shook the bomber, but the pilot held her steady.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
  • But already the thought tugged at me that the scales that had turned were not celestial, but legal, the workings of the same system condemned in the camp as corrupt and broken.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of tugged
Verb
  • The Vikings similarly struggled in 2023 after Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles tendon.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The collapse comes just weeks after a fire tore through a hospital in the capital Islamabad, killing at least 14 newborns and sparking widespread anger and multiple arrests.
    — Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of tore
Verb
  • During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Somewhere nearby, in a dark office, an eavesdropping oreja has just jerked to attention on his hard little chair.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of jerked
Verb
  • The little girl would later tell officers that her brother grabbed the knife and threw it at her, the blade hitting her chest.
    — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Fitzgerald then allegedly grabbed her arm and tried to pull her toward him.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • Some series plucked peripheral movie characters for unnecessary small-screen addendums adventures.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The original number was 28,800, but Carolina Herrera designer Wes Gordon’s two children plucked a tulip each to take with them.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of plucked
Verb
  • With two outs in the opening frame, Junior Caminero and Jonny DeLuca ripped consecutive RBI knocks to put Tampa Bay up 2-0.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Popular at American Chinese or Cajun-style Chinese restaurants, the sticky-sweet chicken is the utter definition of delicious, luring weary shoppers into food courts to find refuge from the bubblegum pink sweatpants and ripped denim.
    — Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of ripped

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wrench
wrenched
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Cite this Entry

“Wrenched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenched. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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