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
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Recent Examples of wrenches
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
Instead of engineers with wrenches, its exam team of researchers aimed something far more penetrating than a flashlight at its aluminum skin.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 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
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
Instead of engineers with wrenches, its exam team of researchers aimed something far more penetrating than a flashlight at its aluminum skin.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 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
-
They’re never getting rid of the over-saturation of idols and advantages and twists.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
28 May 2026
-
The procedural twists and turns have been closely watched by city residents and Little Village community members who protested and mourned in the wake of Toledo’s shooting.—
Madeline Buckley,
Chicago Tribune,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Gravity from huge superclusters tugs on the motions of galaxies across the universe, drawing them closer.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
The pillow is filled with shredded memory foam gel that pulls heat away from your head, neck, and shoulders to prevent overheating.—
Sian Babish,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
-
Google search pulls from the same information as Google News, even though the two sites are technically separate.—
Michael Muchmore,
PC Magazine,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
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
-
The Un Certain Regard best actor award went to Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset for his turn in Rafiki Fariala’s Congo Boy, playing a teen talent in the Central African Republic who dreams of a career in music as a civil war tears his country apart.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
Like a false note on an out-of-tune piano, a clunky verb, a sentence without rhythm, yanks the reader out the flow of the work.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 May 2026
-
Maden takes thee wine bottle from him and the officers reach for his wrists but Brown resists and yanks his arms back, the video shows.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Kennedy then pins the snake’s head and grabs it by the mouth, avoiding any potential venomous bites.—
Drew Pittock,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
-
Davis grabs two suitcases off the belt, pulls out a handheld computer that looks like an extra-rugged iPad, and scans the bar codes on the luggage tags.—
Joel Rose,
NPR,
26 May 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
Verb
-
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
-
Tabakis lightly strums and plucks over a glowing drone and chattering birds, offering an ecumenical introduction, a smiling welcome.—
Grayson Haver Currin,
Pitchfork,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wrenches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenches. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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