WRECK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wreck mean? 

• WRECK (noun)
  The noun WRECK has 4 senses:

1. something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation

2. an accident that destroys a ship at sea

3. a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles)

4. a ship that has been destroyed at sea

  Familiarity information: WRECK used as a noun is uncommon.

• WRECK (verb)
  The verb WRECK has 1 sense:

1. smash or break forcefully

  Familiarity information: WRECK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRECK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

thanks to that quack I am a human wreck

Hypernyms ("wreck" is a kind of...):

declination; decline (a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state)

Derivation:

wreck (smash or break forcefully)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An accident that destroys a ship at sea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

shipwreck; wreck

Hypernyms ("wreck" is a kind of...):

accident (an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wreck"):

capsizing ((nautical) the event of a boat accidentally turning over in the water)

Derivation:

wreck (smash or break forcefully)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

crash; wreck

Context example:

they are still investigating the crash of the TWA plane

Hypernyms ("wreck" is a kind of...):

accident (an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wreck"):

prang (a crash involving a car or plane)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A ship that has been destroyed at sea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("wreck" is a kind of...):

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Derivation:

wreck (smash or break forcefully)

• WRECK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wreck    ... he / she / it wrecks   
Past simple: wrecked   
Past participle: wrecked   
-ing form: wrecking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Smash or break forcefully

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bust up; wrack; wreck

Context example:

The kid busted up the car

Hypernyms (to "wreck" is one way to...):

destroy; ruin (destroy completely; damage irreparably)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

wreck (a ship that has been destroyed at sea)

wreck (an accident that destroys a ship at sea)

wreck (something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation)

wreckage (the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked)

wrecker (a truck equipped to hoist and pull wrecked cars (or to remove cars from no-parking zones))

wrecker (someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks)

wrecker (someone who demolishes or dismantles buildings as a job)

wrecking (destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined)

 Context examples 

He is only a wreck of himself, and he does not remember anything that has happened to him for a long time past.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“Madam,” returned Mr. Micawber, “I wish I had had the honour of knowing you at an earlier period. I was not always the wreck you at present behold.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Wearied from the night of struggle and wreck, all hands were yet asleep, I thought.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He has taken to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his nervous system is shattered.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes examined both it and the indescribable wreck which it had wrought.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Six years had passed since then: I was a wreck, but nought had changed in those savage and enduring scenes.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Imagine, then, my feelings when in the seaman who came to us I recognised instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Had life been wrecked as well as property?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A universal shriek arose as the russet boots waved wildly from the wreck and a golden head emerged, exclaiming, "I told you so! I told you so!"

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)