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. [Obs.] --Bacon.
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. (Mech.) 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 under {Monkey}.
{Wrench hammer}, a wrench with the end shaped so as to admit
of being used as a hammer.
Wrench his sword from him. --Shak.
Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched With a
woeful agony. --Coleridge.
2. To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert.
You wrenched your foot against a stone. --Swift.