wrench off

wrench off

To take someone or something away from someone or something by pulling or prying in a violent, wrenching manner. A noun or pronoun can be used between "wrench" and "off." He walked over to the headstone and wrenched off the medallion that had been embedded in the marble. The man has been hailed as a hero for wrenching the gun off of the shooter before anyone was harmed. The officers wrenched my son off me before I had the chance to run.
See also: off, wrench
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wrench something off (of) someone or something

 and wrench something off
to yank or twist something off someone or something. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) He wrenched the shoes off the sleeping man and ran away. He wrenched off the catsup bottle cap.
See also: off, wrench
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • bear off from (someone or something)
  • be/have done with somebody/something
  • be in line with (someone or something)
  • better of
  • (someone or something) promises well
  • begin with
  • begin with (someone or something)
  • bird has flown, the
  • beware of
  • beware of (someone or something)
References in classic literature
How many young men, in all previous times of unprecedented steadiness, had turned suddenly wild and wicked for the same reason, and, in an ecstasy of unrequited love, taken to wrench off door-knockers, and invert the boxes of rheumatic watchmen!
Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty
This hole's big enough for Jim to get through if we wrench off the board."
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I once dropped a small Snap-On torque wrench off a wing and the visiting rep grabbed a replacement from his truck and handed it to me.
Hangar Tools: Start With The Essentials: Tooling your hangar for light DIY aircraft maintenance should include good lighting, safe parts storage and model-specific specialty items
When I pulled the wrench off, the bit stayed stuck in the screw head, so I called it quits and went in the other direction.
Torque test
Short cast, bouncing the wrench off the bottom, is effective for flounder, snapper and pompano.
A steel: throwing a wrench into everything you know about fishing lures
Banon says Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to wrench off her clothes and shoved his fingers in her mouth and underwear as she fought him off on the floor of an empty apartment during a 2003 interview for a book she was writing, the Associated Press reported.
Strauss-Kahn's Daughter Questioned Over Father's Rape Charge
The Hollywood favourites - in Britain for the launch of their secret agent comedy movie, Knight And Day - found the mystery driver a tough nut to crack when they tried to wrench off his helmet.
Mission Impossible on The Stig
Apollo waited to knock off" my helmet, force down my shoulders, and wrench off my breastplate--priming my death for the hand of another.
Up-armored
Try to wrench off those rosy spectacles and see that the man who's just dumped you is commitment-shy and all too quick to put down a woman's statement of her hopes and wishes as "nagging".
your life: Heartbroken at being dumped; Ask Anna She's the answer to your problems
Also available is a reversible ratcheting combination wrench that allows the user to quickly tighten nuts and bolts without lifting the wrench off and repositioning it after each rotation.
Wrenches
Derek Gull, 76, was on a day trip to the seaside when the yobs hit him in the face with a brick and tried to wrench off his gold watch.
Grandad thug hell