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
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
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Recent Examples of wrenched
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
As the plane twisted upward, the air pressure wrenched off another tail fin.
—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Experts believe the crown’s flexible mount was strained when thieves wrenched it from its display through a narrow slot cut by the angle grinder, according to a report by the Louvre.
—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
And yet so much of the film community’s focus has been wrenched out of the past into an urgent present and uncertain future.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Jan. 2026
In a moment when even humanitarian work around these regions can be wrenched by bad-faith political agendas, Mustafa’s framing of the purpose of Saturday’s show was savvy and measured.
—
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
And Ahmed al-Ahmed, who came to Australia from Syria in 2006, a former policeman who now owns a fruit stand at Bondi Beach, tackled one of the gunmen and wrenched the rifle from him, even as he was wounded himself.
—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
20 Dec. 2025
The man then tackled the shooter and wrenched the gun away from him.
—
Anders Hagstrom , Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
14 Dec. 2025
In the video, one officer wrenched the bathroom door open.
—
Idaho Statesman,
14 Nov. 2025
Carly Tagen-Dye,
PEOPLE,
1 May 2026
As the plane twisted upward, the air pressure wrenched off another tail fin.
—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Experts believe the crown’s flexible mount was strained when thieves wrenched it from its display through a narrow slot cut by the angle grinder, according to a report by the Louvre.
—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
And yet so much of the film community’s focus has been wrenched out of the past into an urgent present and uncertain future.
—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
30 Jan. 2026
In a moment when even humanitarian work around these regions can be wrenched by bad-faith political agendas, Mustafa’s framing of the purpose of Saturday’s show was savvy and measured.
—
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
And Ahmed al-Ahmed, who came to Australia from Syria in 2006, a former policeman who now owns a fruit stand at Bondi Beach, tackled one of the gunmen and wrenched the rifle from him, even as he was wounded himself.
—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
20 Dec. 2025
The man then tackled the shooter and wrenched the gun away from him.
—
Anders Hagstrom , Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
14 Dec. 2025
In the video, one officer wrenched the bathroom door open.
—
Idaho Statesman,
14 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrenched
Verb
-
After the network successfully pulled together a motley crew of Real Housewives offspring and their Manhattan socialite friends last year, the gang is back for a second season in the city.
-
Arraez pulled a 1-1 curveball from the Athletics’ Aaron Civale off the top of his right foot and collapsed to the ground in pain.
Verb
-
Within days of its release, Anthropic’s most sophisticated public AI model was abruptly yanked from customers.
-
With two outs and a runner on, Sasaki yanked a splitter to the inside edge of the strike zone to Gunnar Henderson, who lifted it over the wall in right field.
Verb
-
In bringing a piece of her mother to the event, Obama tugged at a feeling that many will relate to – wishing a late family member could be with you during life’s milestone moments.
-
His young daughter tugged at him.
Verb
-
The May 28 fire tore through a dormitory housing 202 students at the Utumishi Girls School in central Kenya, and students were forced to flee through a single doorway when the school matron failed to open an emergency exit.
-
Ultimately, the partnership didn’t work out, as Lillard tore his left Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs.
Verb
-
Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard.
-
Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled.
Verb
-
This is just one in a sweaty dungeon of hundreds of TikTok videos that show women being stalked, grabbed, tortured, tossed to the ground, and handcuffed by scary masked soldiers.
-
Her mother asked what had just happened, and the girl related that Spencer had grabbed her.
Verb
-
Its members were plucked from 120,000 international applicants to be rigorously trained, molded, and manufactured into international superstars through K-pop methodology.
-
Editor Picks One way to weed through the pages and pages of deals is going straight to the Vogue editor picks section, to see what the team has hand-plucked across all categories.
Verb
-
Lineage, which describes itself as the world's largest owner of cold storage facilities, experienced a fire at another of its warehouses, in Finley, Washington, which ripped through the entire building and burned for two months in 2024.
-
The lessons aren’t all that different from the great breadstick campaign of 2014, when Starboard’s Jeff Smith’s play at Olive Garden parent Darden literally ripped the company for undersalting its pasta water in an effort to save money on pots and pans.
Cite this Entry
“Wrenched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenched. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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