Noun This car has never been in a wreck. The stress of her final exams made her a wreck. Dad was a nervous wreck on the day I had my surgery. Verb I wrecked my mother's car. Many houses were wrecked by the hurricane. The affair wrecked his marriage. Bad weather wrecked our vacation. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Jeremy Burkett said the wreck happened at 6:40 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 65, about three miles north of Prattville. Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 8 Sep. 2022 Just ask Denny Hamlin, part of massive wreck late at Daytona a week ago. Pete Iacobelli, Orlando Sentinel, 4 Sep. 2022 Highway Patrol officer Jason Tyhurst said the wreck happened at 5 a.m. along Interstate 80 west in Vacaville, about 35 miles west of Sacramento and 55 miles north of San Francisco. Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 30 Aug. 2022 The wreck happened hours after LaGrange won a fifth straight USA South Tournament title with a 10-7 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan University.CBS News, 17 May 2022 Because of the striking similarities, for at least a decade, experts had hypothesized that the wreck might be the Dolphin. Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Aug. 2022 The helicopter was en route to an undisclosed destination when the wreck occurred according to an FAA database. Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 24 Aug. 2022 Butler said evidence showed the wreck was survivable and the Hills died because they were crushed by the truck’s roof. Alia Malik, ajc, 19 Aug. 2022 Anyone who witnessed the wreck is asked to call police at 513-352-2514. Jeanne Houck, The Enquirer, 15 Aug. 2022
Verb
Like Watt, Micah Parsons is the type of rusher who can wreck a game. Nate Atkins, The Indianapolis Star, 1 June 2022 Garrett was the surefire No. 1 pick in 2017, an athletic marvel with the ability to wreck opposing offensive gameplans with his freakish ability to bend the edge. Dan Labbe, cleveland, 30 Apr. 2022 Together, the reunited duo should wreck defenses in Class 6A under first-year head coach Marcus Gardner. Ben Thomas | Bthomas@al.com, al, 12 Aug. 2022 The campaign’s brutal demands wreck her personal life. Micah Uetricht, The New Republic, 4 Aug. 2022 Droughts usually wreck mosquitoes’ habitats by drying up moist breeding grounds, such as stagnant pools of water or swampy backyards. Elena Bruess, San Antonio Express-News, 31 July 2022 Attempting a product overload at home can wreck your surfaces and plumbing. Zee Krstic, Good Housekeeping, 31 July 2022 Limestone County authorities say a man who had already stolen a vehicle managed to steal and wreck both an ambulance and a fire truck early Sunday morning. William Thornton | Wthornton@al.com, al, 7 Aug. 2022 Some versions claim the flu is fake, a hoax being used to justify reducing the supply of birds in an effort to drive up food prices, either to wreck the global economy or force people into vegetarianism.CBS News, 23 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English wrec, wrek, borrowed from Anglo-French wrek & Medieval Latin wreccum, borrowed from Old Norse *wrek, rek, going back to *wrek-a- "something driven," derivative of Germanic *wrekan- "to drive out" — more at wreak
Verb
Middle English wrekkyd (past participle), probably derivative of wrekwreck entry 1