1
as in to pry
to draw out by force or with effort
the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
4
5
as in to grab
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 wrest
China wrested de facto control over the rich fishing grounds after a 2012 standoff with Philippine forces.
—
Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Jerome spent months training Robles learning the craft of wresting; ultimately, the wrestling scenes in the film feature both men.
—Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 19 Dec. 2024
First, long before that, the Spanish and Mexicans wrested it away from the Native Americans.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Trump’s first administration tried — and failed — to wrest Fannie and Freddie from the government conservatorship that’s been in place since the 2008 financial crisis.
—Samantha Delouya, CNN, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wrest 
Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Jerome spent months training Robles learning the craft of wresting; ultimately, the wrestling scenes in the film feature both men.
—Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 19 Dec. 2024
First, long before that, the Spanish and Mexicans wrested it away from the Native Americans.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Trump’s first administration tried — and failed — to wrest Fannie and Freddie from the government conservatorship that’s been in place since the 2008 financial crisis.
—Samantha Delouya, CNN, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wrest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrest
Verb
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Kate O'Flaherty Ransom DDoS Is On The Rise In the final quarter of 2024, Cloudflare observed a surge in Ransom DDoS attacks, where adversaries try to extort money by threatening to take down their targets' web properties or networks.—
Kate O'Flaherty,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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The policy was a boon for drug cartel members, who targeted asylum seekers to extort, kidnap and rape them, human rights groups say.—
Annie Correal,
New York Times,
21 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Shot over seven years, this is the story of a son trying to earn his father’s love, trust and respect.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
10 Feb. 2025
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Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr.,
USA TODAY,
10 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Brands began to pull together resources to support refugees.—
Stephan Rabimov,
Forbes,
13 Feb. 2023
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The 13-minute performance will likely call for a healthy dose of vibrant, colored lighting to pull it all together.—
Kelly Allen,
House Beautiful,
10 Feb. 2023
Verb
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Then, almost missing the cue, Belushi stepped forward and grabbed the mic stand.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
17 Feb. 2025
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Brendan Coyle made five 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds.—
Staff And Wire Reports,
Hartford Courant,
16 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The main goal of earlier projects was to extract a record of abrupt climate change from ancient air frozen into the ice.—
ByPaul Voosen,
science.org,
6 Feb. 2025
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Strauss extracted key situations and themes from the case and then fictionalized it into this riveting six-part Netflix series.—
Randy Myers,
The Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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These are dunked in grapefruit ponzu or spicy kimchi dressing or simply squeezed with lemon.—
John Metcalfe,
The Mercury News,
14 Feb. 2025
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It’s further squeezed by competition from others in the space, including Etsy, Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, as well as big-box and online retailers such as Amazon and Walmart.—
Caroline Petrow-Cohen,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Investigators obtained a search warrant that led to the identification of evidence linking the man to the robbery, according to the release.—
Stephanie Lam,
The Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2025
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Through this venture, Hyatt obtained the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts brands in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.—
Greta Cross,
USA TODAY,
10 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Film after film tugged at the fragile balance between object and admirer, the vital symbiosis between artist and audience, the vulnerability of knowing that any towering career — even Lopez’s — could topple over without anyone there to applaud.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Feb. 2025
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Creating music that reflects visuals has taught Mogwai that a little restraint goes a long way when tugging at heartstrings.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
27 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near wrest
Cite this Entry
“Wrest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrest. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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