frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

wreak v. inflict, exercise, exert, carry out, bring (to bear), visit,
effect, work, unleash, execute, impose, force, vent, let go:
The tribesmen wreaked vengeance on the hill people for
destroying their farms.
wreck v. 1 destroy, ruin, devastate, demolish, smash, shatter, spoil,
dash (to pieces), reduce to nothing, turn into scrap,
annihilate: He drove my motor-bike into a tree and wrecked it.
2 sink, scuttle, run aground, founder, capsize: The ship was
wrecked on a reef near Rarotonga.
--n. 3 hulk, shipwreck, ruins: The wreck finally rusted away
to nothing. 4 mess, disaster, ruin; havoc: That man made a
wreck of her life. 5 destruction, loss, sinking, devastation,
foundering, grounding, capsize, capsizing, disabling,
disablement, wrecking; demolition, demolishing, levelling,
tearing down, razing, pulling down, obliteration: The wreck of
the Titanic was a major news event in 1912. The wreck of the old
tower block is scheduled for next month.
wreckage n. debris, fragments, remains, rubble, ruin(s): The wreckage
of the building is being searched for survivors.
wrench v. 1 yank, twist, jerk, force, pull, tug, tear, wring, rip,
wrest: The gun was wrenched from my grasp, breaking my finger.
2 strain, sprain, twist, overstrain: After she wrenched her
ankle on the ladder, Mary couldn't walk for a week. 3 extract,
wrest, wring, force, pry, draw: The only way they could wrench
the information from Michael was by torturing him.
--n. 4 yank, twist, jerk, pull, tug, rip: One wrench at the
doorknob and it came off in my hand. 5 pang, pain, agony,
torture, blow, ache, throe, anguish, sadness, grief, heartbreak:
The severest wrench at my heartstrings came when we had to part.
6 Brit spanner, shifting spanner, adjustable spanner, US monkey
wrench: We need metric wrenches to work on your car.
wrestle v. battle, fight, struggle, tussle, strive: After thirty years
Garth wrestled his way to the top in the company.
wretch n. 1 scoundrel, blackguard, worm, villain, cur, beast, dog,
swine, rogue, good-for-nothing, knave, varlet, scallywag or
scalawag, rascal, rapscallion, Archaic caitiff, whoreson, Colloq