Wreck

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹɛk/
• Rhymes: -É›k

Origin

Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrec, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak), from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Distantly related to wreak.

Full definition of wreck

Noun

1. Something or someone that has been ruined.He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
2. The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
• CowperTo the fair haven of my native home,
  The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come.
3. An event in which something is damaged through collision.
• Addisonthe wreck of matter and the crush of worlds
• SpenserHard and obstinate
  As is a rock amidst the raging floods,
  'Gainst which a ship, of succour desolate,
  Doth suffer wreck, both of herself and goods.
• J. R. GreenIts intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life.
4. (legal) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.

Synonyms

• crash
• ruins

Derived terms

• shipwreck

Verb

1. To cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.He wrecked the car in a collision.That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!
• ShakespeareSupposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked.
2. To ruin or dilapidate.
3. To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts. (Australia)
4. To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
• DanielWeak and envied, if they should conspire,
  They wreck themselves.

Antonyms

• restore (2)

Derived terms

• bewreck
• wrecker
• wreckage