wrest

verb

ˈrest How to pronounce wrest (audio)
Definition of wrestnext
1
as in to pry
to draw out by force or with effort the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to extort
to get (as money) by the use of force or threats vowed that the bully had wrested his lunch money from him for the last time

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3
as in to earn
to get with great difficulty farmers who were used to wresting a living from the harsh land

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4
as in to pull
to move by or as if by a forceful rotation I need a strong arm to wrest the lid off this pickle jar

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5
as in to grab
to separate or remove by forceful pulling wrested open the stuck door of the cabinet

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wrest If New England somehow wrests the divison away from Buffalo, Vrabel gets serious consideration. — Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 North Carolina lawmakers attempted to wrest control of the facility from Charlotte last decade due to concerns of meddling by the city. — Dj Simmons july 27, Charlotte Observer, 27 July 2026 In this case, the production company Embassy Pictures wrested control of Crimewave away from Raimi after a challenging shoot, leading the director to disavow the film. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026 The Smithsonian Institution, which oversees twenty-one museums, among other establishments, operates independently from the executive branch of the government, which makes wresting control over it more difficult. — News Desk, Artforum, 15 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for wrest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrest
  1. pull
  2. extort
  3. earn
  4. tug
  5. grab
  6. extract
  7. squeeze
  8. obtain
Verb
  • Pratt fouled off Thornton’s first pitch and then pulled back his bat on the second one, a fastball right down the middle.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Washington has turned to pulling economic levers six months into a war on Iran that has ground to a stalemate militarily, with peace talks stalled and most traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz blocked.
    — Tucker Reals, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of pull
Verb
  • The 99-year lease requires the USTA to share revenue with the city and pay for its own infrastructure, an unheard of arrangement today, when sports franchises routinely extort the government for subsidies and tax breaks.
    — Ben Ryder Howe, Curbed, 21 Aug. 2026
  • In his report, Prescott said there is evidence substantiating the claim that Rodriguez-Mendez was extorting Guaranda.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of extort
Verb
  • Some soldiers distinguished themselves by helping to render emergency trauma response and first aid to civilians, earning individual service commendations, according to the Arkansas National Guard.
    — Neal Earley, Arkansas Online, 29 Aug. 2026
  • On Monday, those five writers — also DSA-LA members — panned the idea of an endorsement, saying Raman hasn’t earned it.
    — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of earn
Verb
  • The late night host tugged at her sleeve cutout to get a look at the ink.
    — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The seas have been kind, or at least kinder than expected, to SpaceX's Starship spacecraft, as it's been tugged through the Indian Ocean to friendlier tides.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of tug
Verb
  • Mishka Wilonski had just grabbed pizza from a nearby shop and was walking outside with a friend when the crash happened.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Michael grabbed him, rushed out of the house, and blew through several red lights on the way to the hospital.
    — Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of grab
Verb
  • Early in this year’s war, the United States and Israel considered launching ground operations to extract nuclear material but never initiated them, judging them to be highly risky and unlikely to affect the regime’s decision-making.
    — Nate Swanson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026
  • With the clock racing down to find Joe before she's extracted out of the country to her death, the team launches an assault against an airport hangar.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of extract
Verb
  • These portable, lightweight bands squeeze easily into a suitcase and can be used to add resistance to body weight exercises.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Job seekers in South Florida are navigating a tricky mix of stubborn inflation, high interest rates and an AI shift that’s squeezing entry-level hiring.
    — Jessica Lipscomb, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeeze
Verb
  • According to the police documents obtained by Law & Crime, Weatherall, 22, ordered a Lyft ride to an apartment complex in Greenville.
    — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 30 Aug. 2026
  • After obtaining the suspect's name and descriptions of both the man and his vehicle, DeLong cleared the call.
    — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of obtain

Browse Nearby Words

wrenching
wrest
wrested
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Cite this Entry

“Wrest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrest. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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