1
as in pulls
to draw out by force or with effort
the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
4
as in tugs
to move by or as if by a forceful rotation
I need a strong arm to wrest the lid off this pickle jar
Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in grabs
to separate or remove by forceful pulling
wrested open the stuck door of the cabinet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wrests
Like everything else that works here, Brie’s performance wrests the last scraps of freshness from a mode of filmmaking this movie knows is played out, but doesn’t have the particular strength to reinvent.
—
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 2 June 2026
Here, the director wrests a radioactive joy from observing Godard generate ideas with his ensemble, even as others pull their hair out around him.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Seattle fans can already envision a future where a one-loss Seahawks team wrests control of the division away from Los Angeles in early November, but Tampa Bay has to be the first domino to fall.
—J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 2 June 2026
Here, the director wrests a radioactive joy from observing Godard generate ideas with his ensemble, even as others pull their hair out around him.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Seattle fans can already envision a future where a one-loss Seahawks team wrests control of the division away from Los Angeles in early November, but Tampa Bay has to be the first domino to fall.
—J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrests
Verb
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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
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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
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Johnny's Gold Brick Johnny's Gold Brick earns its reputation without trying to impress anyone.—
Carrie Honaker,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
5 June 2026
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Families could also consider a 529 college savings plan, a custodial account for minors under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, also known as UGMA and UTMA, and, if a child earns income, a Roth individual retirement account.—
Jessica Dickler,Greg Iacurci,
CNBC,
5 June 2026
Verb
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Just across the state line, Alabama’s DeSoto State Park and Little River Canyon are also wonderful for stunning views, hikes and whatever else tugs your trotline.—
Amber Harding OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
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There’s an elastic tension in the way that a character like Mal wants to confess, wants to share in community, and also wants to disappear, a situation that tugs at her relationships with her friends and with the audience.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
13 May 2026
Verb
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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
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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
Verb
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There are swooping close encounters with heavenly bodies, Lego blocks in antigravity mode and swarms of Separators, a sort of astro-anthropomorphic version of the tool that pries apart Lego bricks in real life.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Feb. 2026
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The show’s biggest laugh may come when Testa pries open Costanzo’s mouth and pronounces just how many performances of Norma Galas has left.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Even Zach Cherry squeezes plenty from his part as the dealership’s manager, who grows loudly resentful when Nate seems more emotionally invested in his biological children than coworkers.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
27 May 2026
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War squeezes African, Asian economies further The fallout of the Iran war deepened globally as countries struggled to contain the impact of rising fuel and commodity prices.—
Semafor Events,
semafor.com,
22 May 2026
Verb
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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
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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
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Wrests.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrests. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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