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Webster 1913 Edition
Wrest
Wrest
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wrested
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wresting
.] [OE.
wresten
, AS. wr[GREEK]stan
; akin to wr[GREEK][GREEK]
a twisted band, and wrī[GREEK]n
to twist. See Writhe
.] 1.
To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence; to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or twisting.
“The secret wrested from me.” Milton.
Our country’s cause,
That drew our swords, now secret
That drew our swords, now secret
wrests
them from our hand. Addison.
They instantly
wrested
the government out of the hands of Hastings. Macaulay.
2.
To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort.
Wrest
once the law to your authority. Shakespeare
Thou shalt not
wrest
the judgment of thy poor. Ex. xxiii. 6.
Their arts of
wresting
, corrupting, and false interpreting the holy text. South.
3.
To tune with a wrest, or key.
[Obs.]
Wrest
,Noun.
1.
The act of wresting; a wrench; a violent twist; hence, distortion; perversion.
Hooker.
2.
Active or moving power.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
3.
A key to tune a stringed instrument of music.
The minstrel . . . wore round his neck a silver chain, by which hung the
wrest
, or key, with which he tuned his harp. Sir W. Scott.
4.
A partition in a water wheel, by which the form of the buckets is determined.
Wrest pin
(Piano Manuf.)
, one of the pins around which the ends of the wires are wound in a piano.
Knight.
– Wrest plank
(Piano Manuf.)
, the part in which the wrest pins are inserted.
Webster 1828 Edition
Wrest
WREST
,Verb.
T.
1.
To twist or extort by violence; to pull or force from by violent wringing or twisting; as, to wrest an instrument from anothers hands.2.
To take or force from by violence. The enemy made a great effort, and wrested the victory from our hands.But fate has wrested the confession from me.
3.
To distort; to turn from truth or twist from its natural meaning by violence; to pervert.Wrest once the law to your authority.
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor. Exodus 23.
Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3.
WREST
,Noun.
1.
Distortion; violent pulling and twisting; perversion.2.
Active or moving power. [Not used.]3.
An instrument to tune.