WRENCHES Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

wrenches 1 of 2

noun

plural of wrench

as in twists

a forceful rotating or pulling motion for the purpose of dislodging something with a sharp wrench of the hammer I pulled the nail from the board

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as in tugs

the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force with one final hard wrench I was able to pull the cork from the bottle

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

wrenches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of wrench

as in pulls

to move by or as if by a forceful rotation with one last sharp yank, he wrenched the lid off the bottle of ketchup

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as in bruises

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

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as in tears

to separate or remove by forceful pulling wrenched the post out of the ground

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

reattaches

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 wrenches

Noun

Tools and tool parts, including wrenches, chainsaw blades, rakes and sledgehammers also appear, along with electronics like smartphones, television cameras, radar apparatuses, video monitors and parts for manufacturing electronics. — Zachary Folk, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026 Unpredictable hours, loud noises, finicky clients, wrenches, needles. — Jane Bua, New Yorker, 1 June 2026 With all these features and a unique design that eliminates all the rattling and imprecise grips of conventional wrenches, this tool could find frequent use in your workshop. — New Atlas, 18 May 2026 Engineers constantly tweak the system to throw new (virtual) wrenches in the cogs to keep its Super Cruise as up to date as possible with the oddest and unlikeliest scenarios. — Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 30 Apr. 2026 There are two tire changers, front side and rear side, who use air wrenches to loosen the single lug nut on the old tires and tighten the lug on the new tires. — Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 28 Apr. 2026 Eight days after panels were removed by National Park Service staff using crowbars and wrenches, dozens of people packed a federal courtroom to hear arguments from the city of Philadelphia and the federal government. — Liz Crawford, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2026 Adjustable wrenches can round off the bolt head, making removal more difficult, Mansfield says. — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 15 Jan. 2026 At a minimum, keep a multi-tool, a few wrenches, and a pair of pliers in it. — Rabekah Henderson, Southern Living, 2 Jan. 2026

Verb

This wrenches the chromosomes apart into two sets and reels them to opposite ends of the cytoplasm sea. — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 29 June 2026 And thus the audience is stuck with this scenario, which complicates in intensity and with a linguistic relish that has its funny moments (for some, anyway), but also features a lot of crudity that really wrenches you away from the typical landscape of the classy, urban American farce. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026 In the sober light of day, Arthur takes one look at the leach before him and wrenches it from its prey. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025 The director wrenches apart Ibsen’s terse and precise mechanism and makes room for a proliferation of arresting moments—caught on the wing in wide-screen images, thanks to Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography—that balance tragedy and horror with excitement and wonder. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2025 Gudsen, unmasked earlier as one of the two serial arsonists she's been hunting, unbuckles her seat belt and wrenches the wheel, sending them into a crash designed to kill her. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 15 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrenches

Noun

They’ve been assembled for a brain-breaker of a misfired melodrama, at first darkly amusing, before plunging headlong into soap opera-style twists and a general sense of heavy depression that no one can shake.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Sep. 2026
The beloved original delivered plenty of twists, thrills, and chills, courtesy of director Griffin Dunne and Alice Hoffman, who wrote the novels the 1998 and 2026 films are based on.

— Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of twists

Noun

Firefly Aerospace started as a launch company and now builds Moon landers and space tugs.

— Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
The European Investment Bank (EIB) estimates that roughly 200 wrecks, including warships, barges, tugs, and cargo vessels, remain scattered across a five-kilometer stretch of the river near Prahovo.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of tugs

Verb

In a sense, the proof shows that a world in which love never returns is a world whose geometry tears itself apart—assuming, of course, the proof holds up.

— Sam Macdonald, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
Instead of wiping firmware, an adversary nudges a setpoint, edits a protection parameter, distorts a sensor feed—or shows the operator a calm screen while the equipment tears itself apart.

— Julian Durand, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of tears

Verb

His torso and thighs grow eye-poppingly muscular beneath their skimpy fur-and-leather togs—a development that does not go unnoticed by a warrior named Red Hair, who plucks the young hunk from his post and tosses him into the prime time of the gladiator pit.

— Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
But the emotional gravity of this offering's deeply personal, melancholic lyrical content plucks an undeniably profound chord that uniquely separates it from the rest of his work.

— Chris Barilla, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026

Definition of plucks

Verb

As the striker attempts to get back to his feet, albeit with a handful of the defender’s shirt, Rosario grabs Haaland’s backside.

— Sam Lee, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Innanen came up with the idea that, as Anton gets up to leave while Paul Baker and Issa make out, Paul Baker grabs his leg to keep him on the bed.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of grabs

Noun

Lee and his Burning co-writer Oh Jung-mi resist what might have been the first instinct of many filmmakers by refusing to make Ye-ji and Sang-woo overly patronizing rich jerks.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
The Ars OpenForum is a place for readers to ask questions, compare notes, argue (without being jerks to each other), and go down all sorts of rabbit holes.

— Eric Bangeman, ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of jerks

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“Wrenches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenches. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of wrenches

noun

verb

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