wrest

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

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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 Democrats wrested control of the Legislature from Republicans in 1954, the year Ariyoshi won the first of two terms in the Territorial House of Representatives. ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026 Eventually, David Ellison’s Paramount wrested WBD out of Netflix’s hands. Robertas Bakula, Oc Register, 15 Apr. 2026 The clinical trial became a boon for Abbott, which publicized the results to wrest market share from Mead Johnson. David Hilzenrath, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2026 The clinical trial became a boon for Abbott, which publicized the results to wrest market share from Mead Johnson. David Hilzenrath, USA Today, 29 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for wrest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrest
Verb
  • Breaking bad Retail, hospitality and medical companies trusted cyber expert Angelo Martino to negotiate with hackers who were trying to extort them.
    Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026
  • To dispose of his body, the group allegedly used a familiar method, placing it in a crematorium furnace in a local funeral home whose owner was being extorted by another Hells Angels member.
    Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • McDavid had led a 3-on-1 rush that fizzled out and soon after received Bouchard’s outlet pass, returning the puck to him and earning a secondary assist for the Art Ross Trophy winner’s first point of these playoffs.
    Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Fedde, who came up with the Nationals and played with them from 2017-22, gave up three runs, one earned, on three hits in 5 2/3 innings.
    Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The only question was which lever Brown would pull to save his team’s season in the first round of the playoffs.
    Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2026
  • All of which is great news for Adam Silver and everyone else pulling a paycheck from the league.
    Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Rivera’s defense team contended that the gun went off inadvertently in a struggle after Rosen reached into the car and grabbed Rivera.
    John Annese, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Walsh locked down Maxey out of a Sixers timeout to force a turnover, and the Celtics grabbed four offensive rebounds on one first-quarter possession, with Walsh and Scheierman accounting for three of them.
    Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Anthropic and OpenAI have accused the startup of illegally extracting capabilities – or distilling – from their models.
    John Liu, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Experts have warned regional countries against cozying up to the Kremlin, which often extracts major economic concessions in exchange for assistance.
    Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 23 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • When picking your own, avoid squeezing the berries.
    Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2026
  • That’s way too much time to squeeze into a mere 140 minutes.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • According to court records obtained by USA TODAY, a class action lawsuit against Wren Kitchens US subsidiary was filed alleging that the company violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
    Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Settlements typically require plaintiffs to sign confidentiality agreements, and corporate documents obtained through discovery have to be returned to State Farm or destroyed.
    Michael Copley, NPR, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • That detail alone was enough to tug at the internet’s heartstrings.
    Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Still, baseball continued to tug at Gansner.
    Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Wrest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrest. Accessed 2 May. 2026.

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