Wrench (rĕnch), n. [OE. wrench deceit, AS. wrenc deceit, a twisting; akin to G. rank intrigue, crookedness, renken to bend, twist, and E. wring. √144. See Wring, and cf. Ranch, v. t.]
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. 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.