1
as in pulls
to draw out by force or with effort
the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
4
as in tugs
to move by or as if by a forceful rotation
I need a strong arm to wrest the lid off this pickle jar
Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in grabs
to separate or remove by forceful pulling
wrested open the stuck door of the cabinet
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wrests
Like everything else that works here, Brie’s performance wrests the last scraps of freshness from a mode of filmmaking this movie knows is played out, but doesn’t have the particular strength to reinvent.
—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
2 June 2026
Here, the director wrests a radioactive joy from observing Godard generate ideas with his ensemble, even as others pull their hair out around him.
—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Seattle fans can already envision a future where a one-loss Seahawks team wrests control of the division away from Los Angeles in early November, but Tampa Bay has to be the first domino to fall.
—
J.j. Bailey,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
2 June 2026
Here, the director wrests a radioactive joy from observing Godard generate ideas with his ensemble, even as others pull their hair out around him.
—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Seattle fans can already envision a future where a one-loss Seahawks team wrests control of the division away from Los Angeles in early November, but Tampa Bay has to be the first domino to fall.
—
J.j. Bailey,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrests
Verb
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Dembele’s pace stretches defenses, Olise has developed into one of Europe’s most creative playmakers and Barcola's intelligent movement constantly pulls defenders out of position.
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As Otto groans, Rhaenrya pulls back and cleaves off Otto's head.
Verb
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One of our favorite budget models on the market right now is HP's OmniBook X Flip, which squeezes every bit of performance out of its components to deliver capable everyday productivity performance in a good-looking package.
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That suits floating-rate lenders, who earn more when rates stay up, and squeezes any borrower trying to refinance into those rates.
Verb
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The gateway earns its place where an integration is shared, permissioned, observable or reused across many agents, and buyers should be honest about how much of their tool access clears that bar.
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Currently, a person who earns $184,500 per year pays the same amount in annual Social Security taxes as a person who earns $5 million per year.
Verb
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Just across the state line, Alabama’s DeSoto State Park and Little River Canyon are also wonderful for stunning views, hikes and whatever else tugs your trotline.
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There’s an elastic tension in the way that a character like Mal wants to confess, wants to share in community, and also wants to disappear, a situation that tugs at her relationships with her friends and with the audience.
Verb
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Once inside, she’s confronted by Tommy (James Eddie), who stupidly grabs her to escort her out.
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When forecasters warn about a heat wave, the number that grabs headlines is the daytime high.
Verb
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There are swooping close encounters with heavenly bodies, Lego blocks in antigravity mode and swarms of Separators, a sort of astro-anthropomorphic version of the tool that pries apart Lego bricks in real life.
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The show’s biggest laugh may come when Testa pries open Costanzo’s mouth and pronounces just how many performances of Norma Galas has left.
Verb
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The perennial funnyman suffered an immense tragedy earlier this year with the loss of his daughter, Katherine, yet still wrings laughs out of flamboyant director Oliver Putnam on Only Murders in the Building five seasons in.
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Similarly, the cast wrings some poetry out of the prosaic, often aphoristic dialogue.
Verb
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His torso and thighs grow eye-poppingly muscular beneath their skimpy fur-and-leather togs—a development that does not go unnoticed by a warrior named Red Hair, who plucks the young hunk from his post and tosses him into the prime time of the gladiator pit.
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But the emotional gravity of this offering's deeply personal, melancholic lyrical content plucks an undeniably profound chord that uniquely separates it from the rest of his work.
Cite this Entry
“Wrests.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrests. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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