Adjacent Words

Wreck definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WRECK, n.
1. Destruction; properly, the destruction of a ship or vessel on the shore. Hence,
2. The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land and broken, or otherwise rendered useless by violence and fracture.
3. Dissolution by violence; ruin; destruction.
The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.
4. The remains of any thing ruined; dead weeds and grass.
5. In metallurgy, the vessel in which ores are washed the third time.
6. Wreck, for wreak, is less proper. [See also Rack.]
WRECK, v.t.
1. To stand; to drive against the shore, or dash against rocks, and break or destroy. The ship Diamond of new York, was wrecked on a rock in Cardigan Bay, on the coast of Wales.
2. To ruin; as, they wreck their own fortunes.
3. Wreck, for wreak, is improper.
WRECK, v.i. To suffer wreck or ruin.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation; "the house was a wreck when they bought it"; "thanks to that quack I am a human wreck"
2: an accident that destroys a ship at sea [syn: shipwreck, wreck]
3: a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles); "they are still investigating the crash of the TWA plane" [syn: crash, wreck]
4: a ship that has been destroyed at sea v
1: smash or break forcefully; "The kid busted up the car" [syn: bust up, wreck, wrack]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English wrek, from Anglo-French, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse rek wreck; akin to Old English wrecan to drive Date: 12th century 1. something cast up on the land by the sea especially after a shipwreck 2. a. shipwreck b. the action of wrecking or fact or state of being wrecked ; destruction c. a violent and destructive crash <was injured in a car wreck> 3. a. a hulk or the ruins of a wrecked ship b. the broken remains of something wrecked or otherwise ruined c. something disabled or in a state of ruin or dilapidation <the house was a wreck>; also a person or animal of broken constitution, health, or spirits <he's a nervous wreck> II. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to cast ashore 2. a. to reduce to a ruinous state by or as if by violence <a country wrecked by war> <ambition wrecked his marriage> b. shipwreck c. to ruin, damage, or imperil by a wreck <wrecked the car> 3. bring about, wreak <wreck havoc> intransitive verb 1. to become wrecked 2. to rob, salvage, or repair wreckage or a wreck

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the destruction or disablement esp. of a ship. 2 a ship that has suffered a wreck (the shores are strewn with wrecks). 3 a greatly damaged or disabled building, thing, or person (had become a physical and mental wreck). 4 (foll. by of) a wretched remnant or disorganized set of remains. 5 Law goods etc. cast up by the sea. --v. 1 tr. cause the wreck of (a ship etc.). 2 tr. completely ruin (hopes, chances, etc.). 3 intr. suffer a wreck. 4 tr. (as wrecked adj.) involved in a shipwreck (wrecked sailors). 5 intr. US deal with wrecked vehicles etc. Phrases and idioms: wreck-master an officer appointed to take charge of goods etc. cast up from a wrecked ship. Etymology: ME f. AF wrec etc. (cf. VAREC) f. a Gmc root meaning 'to drive': cf. WREAK

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wreck Wreck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrecked; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrecking.] 1. To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving it against the shore or on rocks, by causing it to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to shipwreck. Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked. --Shak. 2. To bring wreck or ruin upon by any kind of violence; to destroy, as a railroad train. 3. To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on. Weak and envied, if they should conspire, They wreck themselves. --Daniel.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wreck Wreck, n. [OE. wrak, AS. wr[ae]c exile, persecution, misery, from wrecan to drive out, punish; akin to D. wrak, adj., damaged, brittle, n., a wreck, wraken to reject, throw off, Icel. rek a thing drifted ashore, Sw. vrak refuse, a wreck, Dan. vrag. See Wreak, v. t., and cf. Wrack a marine plant.] [Written also wrack.] 1. The destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled or sunk by the force of winds or waves; shipwreck. Hard and obstinate As is a rock amidst the raging floods, 'Gainst which a ship, of succor desolate, Doth suffer wreck, both of herself and goods. --Spenser. 2. Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin; as, the wreck of a railroad train. The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds. --Addison. Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life. --J. R. Green. 3. The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture; as, they burned the wreck. 4. The remain of anything ruined or fatally injured. To the fair haven of my native home, The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come. --Cowper. 5. (Law) Goods, etc., which, after a shipwreck, are cast upon the land by the sea. --Bouvier.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wreck Wreck, v. t. & n. See 2d & 3d Wreak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wreck Wreck, v. i. 1. To suffer wreck or ruin. --Milton. 2. To work upon a wreck, as in saving property or lives, or in plundering.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wrecks, wrecking, wrecked) 1. To wreck something means to completely destroy or ruin it. A coalition could have defeated the government and wrecked the treaty... His life has been wrecked by the tragedy. ...missed promotions, lost jobs, wrecked marriages. VERB: V n, V n, V-ed 2. If a ship is wrecked, it is damaged so much that it sinks or can no longer sail. The ship was wrecked by an explosion. ...a wrecked cargo ship. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, V-ed 3. A wreck is something such as a ship, car, plane, or building which has been destroyed, usually in an accident. ...the wreck of a sailing ship... The car was a total wreck... We thought of buying the house as a wreck, doing it up, then selling it. N-COUNT 4. A wreck is an accident in which a moving vehicle hits something and is damaged or destroyed. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use crash) He was killed in a car wreck. N-COUNT: usu supp N 5. If you say that someone is a wreck, you mean that they are very exhausted or unhealthy. (INFORMAL) You look a wreck... N-COUNT: usu sing see also nervous wreck

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Destruction, perdition, undoing, prostration, ruin, desolation, shipwreck. 2. Stranded vessel, shipwrecked vessel. II. v. a. 1. Strand, founder, shipwreck, cast away. 2. Ruin, destroy, shipwreck, break, shatter, blight, blast.

Moby Thesaurus

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