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Winch vs Wrench - What's the difference?

winch | wrench |

As nouns the difference between winch and wrench

is that winch is a machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a pawl, and a crank handle, with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hauling on a rope while wrench is a trick or artifice.

As verbs the difference between winch and wrench

is that winch is to use a winch while wrench is to violently move in a turn or writhe.

winch

English

(wikipedia winch)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) *winkjo- , ultimately from the (etyl) root , whence also (l).

Noun

(es)
  • A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a pawl, and a crank handle, with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hauling on a rope.
  • (nautical) A hoisting machine used for loading or discharging cargo, or for hauling in lines. (FM 55-501).
  • * 2013 , . Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company. chapter 27. p. 267.
  • *:It runs on clattering steel tracks; the driver sits in a cab over the tracks, operating the controls that rotate the arm and turn the winch .
  • A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
  • A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.
  • (Shelton)

    Verb

    (es)
  • To use a winch
  • Winch in those sails, lad!

    Etymology 2

    See wince.

    Verb

    (es)
  • To wince; to shrink
  • To kick with impatience or uneasiness.
  • wrench

    English

    (wikipedia wrench)

    Alternative forms

    * ** wrenche * ** wrinche * ** wringe

    Noun

    (wrenches)
  • (obsolete) A trick or artifice.
  • * c. 1210 , MS. Cotton Caligula A IX f.246
  • Mon mai longe liues wene; / Ac ofte him liedh the wrench .
  • (obsolete) Deceit; guile; treachery.
  • A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
  • With a wrench , which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.
  • An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.
  • (obsolete) A turn at an acute angle.
  • (archaic) A winch or windlass.
  • (obsolete) A screw.
  • A distorting change from the original meaning.
  • (US) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner.
  • A violent emotional change caused by separation.
  • (physics) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body.
  • (obsolete) means; contrivance
  • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * (tool) spanner (UK, Australia)

    Derived terms

    * adjustable wrench * socket wrench * monkey-wrench, monkey wrench, monkeywrench * pipe wrench * screw wrench * torque wrench * torsion wrench * tube wrench * dog bone wrench

    Verb

    (es)
  • (obsolete) To violently move in a turn or writhe.
  • To pull or twist violently.
  • With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.
  • (obsolete) To turn aside or deflect.
  • (obsolete) To slander.
  • (obsolete) To tighten with or as if with a winch.
  • To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.
  • Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
  • To distort from the original meaning.
  • (obsolete) To thrust a weapon in a twisting motion.
  • (intransitive, fencing, obsolete) To disarm an opponent by whirling his or her blade away.
  • To rack with pain.
  • To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist.
  • To use the tool known as a wrench.
  • The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.