| wrench | 1. Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. "His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee." (Chaucer) 2. A violent twist, or a pull with twisting. "He wringeth them such a wrench." (Skelton) "The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused everywhere." (De Quincey) 3. A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint. 4. Means; contrivance. 5. An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc, of different sizes. 6. <mechanics> The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench. Carriage wrench, a wrench adapted for removing or tightening the nuts that confine the wheels on the axles, or for turning the other nuts or bolts of a carriage or wagon. Monkey wrench. See Monkey. Wrench hammer, a wrench with the end shaped so as to admit of being used as a hammer. Origin: OE. Wrench deceit, AS. Wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. Rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. Wring. See Wring, and cf. Ranch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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