wrested; wresting; wrests
1
: to pull, force, or move by violent wringing or twisting movements
2
: to gain with difficulty by or as if by force, violence, or determined labor
Synonyms
Examples of wrest in a Sentence
Verb
He tried to wrest control of the company from his uncle.
the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands
Recent Examples on the Web
Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 18 Apr. 2024
When Fisk tried to wrest a microphone from the student leading the demonstration, the student accused ...
—Tal Fortgang, National Review, 16 Apr. 2024
In the final months of the Trump administration, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin scrambled to wrest TikTok away from its Chinese parent company, arguing that only a new U.S. owner could protect millions of Americans’ sensitive personal information from abuse.
—Tony Romm, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Blackthorne is an Englishman working for the Dutch, and their mission appears to be to figure out where Japan is and begin the process of wresting it from Catholic control.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Murders known as the Reign of Terror were, as Grann uncovers, committed by white men who were trying to wrest the Osage people's oil-rich land from underneath them.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
Speaking of the Vulcans’ victory over wintry cold, Vulcanus Rex and his Krewe will wrest control of the seasons from King Boreas on the library steps near Rice Park.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2024
So, unfortunately, is the Klan, which is intent on wresting control of the city from its people and putting it under white, capitalist authority.
—The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
For more than a year, the San Diego metropolitan area has usually finished No. 1 in the monthly reports, with urban Hawaii wresting the top spot on occasion.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2024
Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2024
In a battle much more reminiscent of Succession than Fantasia, Disney’s kingpin Bob Iger turned back activist investors who attempted to wrest control of the company away from him on Wednesday in a dramatic shareholder vote.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
The Ohio margin and outcome were overshadowed at the time by dramatic events in other states that Biden did manage to wrest from Trump and which were subsequently disputed by Trump and his partisans.
—Ron Elving, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
In the meantime, Kim has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals in what experts say is an attempt to wrest concessions from Washington and Seoul.
—Hyung-Jin Kim, Chicago Tribune, 30 May 2023
His effort to wrest momentum out of Iowa was, however, short-lived.
—Catherine Lucey, WSJ, 16 Jan. 2024
Karamo is now backing a lawsuit seeking to wrest control of the building from the trust.
—Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 9 Jan. 2024
In his brief message, the entrepreneur praised decisions taken in recent years by rival PDD Holdings Inc. to wrest market share from China’s e-commerce leader.
—Zheping Huang, Fortune, 29 Nov. 2023
For many watching this battle, the campaign to wrest control over the university’s direction — its policies, principles and vision for the future — was unsettling.
—Stephanie Saul, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2023
Verb
The GOP currently has a two-vote majority, meaning that if Democrats do not help keep Johnson in the speaker role, only three Republicans would be needed to wrest his gavel.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 18 Apr. 2024
When Fisk tried to wrest a microphone from the student leading the demonstration, the student accused ...
—Tal Fortgang, National Review, 16 Apr. 2024
In the final months of the Trump administration, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin scrambled to wrest TikTok away from its Chinese parent company, arguing that only a new U.S. owner could protect millions of Americans’ sensitive personal information from abuse.
—Tony Romm, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Blackthorne is an Englishman working for the Dutch, and their mission appears to be to figure out where Japan is and begin the process of wresting it from Catholic control.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024
Murders known as the Reign of Terror were, as Grann uncovers, committed by white men who were trying to wrest the Osage people's oil-rich land from underneath them.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
Speaking of the Vulcans’ victory over wintry cold, Vulcanus Rex and his Krewe will wrest control of the seasons from King Boreas on the library steps near Rice Park.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2024
So, unfortunately, is the Klan, which is intent on wresting control of the city from its people and putting it under white, capitalist authority.
—The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
For more than a year, the San Diego metropolitan area has usually finished No. 1 in the monthly reports, with urban Hawaii wresting the top spot on occasion.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2024
Noun
For the past six months, Burton Cummings, founding singer and songwriter of classic rock group the Guess Who, has been in a bitter legal dispute to wrest control of his old band’s legacy.
—Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2024
In a battle much more reminiscent of Succession than Fantasia, Disney’s kingpin Bob Iger turned back activist investors who attempted to wrest control of the company away from him on Wednesday in a dramatic shareholder vote.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
The Ohio margin and outcome were overshadowed at the time by dramatic events in other states that Biden did manage to wrest from Trump and which were subsequently disputed by Trump and his partisans.
—Ron Elving, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
In the meantime, Kim has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals in what experts say is an attempt to wrest concessions from Washington and Seoul.
—Hyung-Jin Kim, Chicago Tribune, 30 May 2023
His effort to wrest momentum out of Iowa was, however, short-lived.
—Catherine Lucey, WSJ, 16 Jan. 2024
Karamo is now backing a lawsuit seeking to wrest control of the building from the trust.
—Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 9 Jan. 2024
In his brief message, the entrepreneur praised decisions taken in recent years by rival PDD Holdings Inc. to wrest market share from China’s e-commerce leader.
—Zheping Huang, Fortune, 29 Nov. 2023
For many watching this battle, the campaign to wrest control over the university’s direction — its policies, principles and vision for the future — was unsettling.
—Stephanie Saul, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wrest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wrest
Cite this Entry
“Wrest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrest. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
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