WRAXLING, raks'ling, _n._ wrestling.
WREAK, r[=e]k, _v.t._ to inflict: avenge.--_n._ WREAK'ER.--_adjs._
WREAK'FUL, revengeful: angry; WREAK'LESS, unpunished. [A.S. _wrecan_, orig.
to drive, and so to punish, avenge; Ice. _reka_, to drive, pursue, Ger.
_rächen_; conn. with L. _urg[=e]re_.]
WREAK, r[=e]k, _v.i._ (_Shak._). Same as RECK.
WREATH, r[=e]th, _n._ a chaplet: a garland: anything long and circular: a
defect in glass.--_v.t._ WREATHE (r[=e]_th_), to form by twisting: to form
into a wreath: to twine about or encircle.--_v.i._ to be
interwoven.--_adj._ WREATH'EN (_th_), wreathed.--_n._ WREATH'ER
(_th_).--_adjs._ WREATH'LESS; WREATH'Y. [A.S. _wrædh_, 'a twisted
band'--_wríthan_, to writhe.]
WRECK, rek, _n._ destruction: destruction of a ship: ruins of a destroyed
ship: remains of anything ruined: shipwrecked property.--_v.t._ to destroy
or disable: to ruin.--_v.i._ to suffer wreck or ruin.--_ns._ WRECK'AGE, the
act of wrecking: wrecked material; WRECK'ER, a person who purposely causes
a wreck or who plunders wreckage: one who lures a ship on to the rocks for
purposes of plunder: one who criminally ruins anything: a person employed
by the owners in recovering disabled vessels or their cargo.--_adj._
WRECK'FUL, causing ruin.--_n._ WRECK'-MAS'TER, a person taking charge of a
disabled ship and its cargo.--WRECK COMMISSIONERS, a tribunal which
inquires into shipping disasters.--RECEIVERS OF WRECKS, wreck-masters.
[A.S. _wræc_, expulsion--_wrecan_, to drive, Low Ger. _wrak_, Dut. _wrak_,
Ice. _reki_, a thing drifted ashore; a doublet of _wrack_.]
WRECK, rek, _n._ (_Spens._) same as WREAK.--_v.t._ (_Milt._) to wreak.
WREN, ren, _n._ a genus (_Troglodytes_) and family (_Troglodytidæ_) of
birds, having a slender, slightly curved and pointed bill, the wings very
short and rounded, the tail short and carried erect, the legs slender and
rather long.--_ns._ WREN'NING, the stoning of a wren to death on St
Stephen's Day, December 26th--WRENNING DAY--once practised in the North
Country; WREN'-TIT, a Californian bird (_Chamæa fasciata_), of dubious
relations, at once resembling the wren and the titmouse. [A.S. _wrenna_,
_wr['æ]nna_--_wr['æ]ne_, lascivious.]
WRENCH, rensh, _v.t._ to wring or pull with a twist: to force by violence:
to sprain.--_v.i._ to undergo a violent wrenching.--_n._ a violent twist: a
sprain: an instrument for turning bolts, &c.: in coursing, bringing the
hare round at less than a right angle--half a point in the recognised code
of points for judging. [A.S. _wrencan_ (Ger. _renken_)--_wrenc_, fraud;
root of _wring_.]
WREST, rest, v.t, to twist from by force: to twist from truth or from its
natural meaning.--_n._ violent pulling and twisting: distortion: an
instrument, like a wrench, for tuning the piano, &c.--_n._ WREST'ER. [A.S.
_wr['æ]stan_--_wr['æ]st_, firm, from _wráth_, pa.t. of _wríthan_, to
writhe; Dan. _vriste_.]
WRESTLE, res'l, _v.i._ to contend by grappling and trying to throw the
other down: to struggle: to apply one's self keenly to: (_Scot._) to pray
earnestly.--_v.t._ to contend with in wrestling.--_n._ a bout at wrestling:
a struggle between two to throw each other down.--_ns._ WREST'LER;
WREST'LING, the sport or exercise of two persons struggling to throw each
other to the ground in an athletic contest governed by certain fixed
rules--_catch-hold_, _ground-wrestling_, _catch-as-catch-can_, _back-hold_,
&c. [A.S. _wr['æ]stlian_; a freq. of _wr['æ]stan_, to wrest.]
WRETCH, rech, _n._ a most miserable person: one sunk in vice: a worthless
person: body, creature (in pity, sometimes admiration).--_adj._ WRETCH'ED,
very miserable: distressingly bad: despicable: worthless.--_adv._
WRETCH'EDLY.--_n._ WRETCH'EDNESS. [A.S. _wrecca_, an outcast--_wræc_, pa.t.
of _wrecan_, to drive.]
WRETHE, r[=e]th, _v.t._ and _v.i._ (_Spens._). Same as WREATHE.