1.Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem. (Obs.) "His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee."
2.A violent twist, or a pull with twisting. "He wringeth them such a wrench." "The injurious effect upon biographic literature of all such wrenches to the truth, is diffused everywhere."
3.A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint.
4.Means; contrivance. (Obs.)
5.An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes.
6.(Mech.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench.
