Wrench vs Spanner - What's the difference?
wrench | spanner |
(obsolete) A trick or artifice.
* c. 1210 , MS. Cotton Caligula A IX f.246
(obsolete) Deceit; guile; treachery.
A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.
* 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
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
(obsolete) To violently move in a turn or writhe.
To pull or twist violently.
(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.
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.
(Australian, NZ, British, Irish) A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts.
(rare) One who, or that which, spans.
* 1915 , Florence Kiper Frank, The Jew to Jesus: and other poems
(weaponry) A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket.
:* 1786 , Fig. 10. The spanner for spanning or winding up the spring of the wheel lock. — Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons , page xvi.
(obsolete) A device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.
(UK) A problem, dilemma or obstacle; something unexpected or troublesome (in the phrase spanner in the works )
(British, Irish, mildly, derogatory) A stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language.
Spanner is a synonym of wrench.
In obsolete terms the difference between wrench and spanner
is that wrench is means; contrivance while spanner is a device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.As a verb wrench
is to violently move in a turn or writhe.wrench
English
(wikipedia wrench)Alternative forms
* ** wrenche * ** wrinche * ** wringeNoun
(wrenches)- Mon mai longe liues wene; / Ac ofte him liedh the wrench .
- With a wrench , which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.
- (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 wrenchVerb
(es)- With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.
- Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
- The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.
External links
* (Wrench)spanner
English
Noun
(en noun)- Pass me that spanner , Jake; there's just one more nut to screw in.
- The scheme of the spanner of continents and the desire of the little husbandman hoarding for his loved ones...
- Halfway through the production of Macbeth, the director found that the stage was smaller than he expected. This really threw a spanner in the works.
- You spanner , Rodney! I wanted a Chinese, not an Indian!