1
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
3
as in tears
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 wrenches
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
Takahashi’s story delights in throwing more and more wrenches in the works with a growing cast of chaotic supporting characters (like the vicious Shampoo and the blowhard Tatewaki Kuno), and the anime adapts their antics as pastel-toned slapstick.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
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
Noun
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
Takahashi’s story delights in throwing more and more wrenches in the works with a growing cast of chaotic supporting characters (like the vicious Shampoo and the blowhard Tatewaki Kuno), and the anime adapts their antics as pastel-toned slapstick.
—Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
Verb
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
-
The iconic winding road from the painting’s title twists and sweeps through hills of blue, purple and pink.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
-
The final 4 minutes and 34 seconds of the game featured an absolutely shocking number of twists and turns.—
Elizabeth Robinson,
NBC news,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
Its tech is being used to power the world’s first electric tugs that are about to go into service at the Port of Long Beach, under a deal worth $160 million announced in late 2025.—
Alan Ohnsman,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
-
Some companies are designing tugs that could boost missions from their drop-off orbits to higher altitudes, potentially even to the Moon or beyond the Solar System.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Coming to the glum realization that love isn’t outlasting infatuation is trickier to write about than a more incendiary subject like unfaithfulness, but Rodrigo pulls it off.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
12 June 2026
-
In the end, an inexperienced minor – who has no idea who hired them – pulls the trigger.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Heavy machinery tears into the Chit Chat Cafe at the base of the Pacifica Municipal Pier, June 9, 2026.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
-
If any of those are missing on the platform side, the acquisition will find the gap and pull on it until something tears.—
Louis Mosca,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
Noun
-
The yanks are coming, the yanks are coming!—
Kirk Bowman,
The Conversation,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
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
-
The multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, who rocks an early era Maxwell ‘fro, plays drums, plucks bass, and sings about the ups and downs of love and consumerism on his new album, LK99.—
Elise Brisco,
Rolling Stone,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
The design is what grabs your attention at first sight.—
Utkarsh Sood
June 12,
New Atlas,
12 June 2026
-
Radke grabs a book and hands it to me.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
To relitigate the matter on behalf of Musk only served to underline the conviction that all of these jerks deserved one another.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
-
Here, witches are real — and so are jerks.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wrenches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenches. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
