wrest

wrest (someone or something) (away) from (someone or something)

1. To take someone or something away from someone or something by pulling in a violent, wrenching manner. The man has been hailed as a hero for wresting the gun away from the shooter before anyone was harmed. The officers wrested my son from me before I had the chance to run.
2. To manage to obtain control or possession of something through some battle, struggle, or conflict with someone or something else. The rebels wrested power from the dictatorship after five years of war. The political party finally managed to wrest control of congress away from their opponents for the first time in 10 years. You'll have to wrest the kids away from me in the courts.
3. To obtain or extract something, such as information, from someone or something, especially after much difficulty or persistence. We were finally able to wrest some answers from the spy we were interrogating. I've never been able to wrest any meaning away from abstract paintings—they always look just like splatters of paint to me.
See also: wrest

wrest (someone or something) out of (someone or something)

1. To remove or take away someone or something from something or some place with a great twisting force. He wrested the gun out of the attacker's hands. I managed to wrest the iron bar out of the cement before it had set completely.
2. To remove or take away someone or something from some place with violence, intimidation, or force. Often used in passive constructions. The children were wrested out of their homes by Child Protective Services. The rebels have sworn to wrest power out of the hands of the autocrats ruling the country.
3. To cause someone to be suddenly removed from some state or condition. Often used in passive constructions. The loud noise wrested me out of my slumber. She was wrested out of her daydream by the school bell.
4. To obtain or extract something, such as information, from someone or something, especially after much difficulty or persistence. We were finally able to wrest some answers out of the spy we were interrogating. I've been going to counseling in an effort to wrest some meaning out of this tragic situation.
See also: of, out, wrest

wrest 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 "wrest" and "off." He walked over to the headstone and wrested off the medallion that had been embedded in the marble. The man has been hailed as a hero for wresting the gun off of the shooter before anyone was harmed. The officers wrested my son off me before I had the chance to run.
See also: off, wrest

wrest out

1. To remove or take away something by pulling or prying in a violent, wresting manner. A noun or pronoun can be used between "wrest" and "out." He wrested the gun out of the attacker's hands. He reached into the machine and wrested out the cables supplying power to the motherboard.
2. To obtain or extract something, such as information, from someone or something, especially after much difficulty or persistence. A noun or pronoun can be used between "wrest" and "out." We were finally able to wrest some answers out of the spy we were interrogating. I've never been able to wrest any meaning out of abstract paintings—they always look just like splatters of paint to me. I wrested out a confession from Tommy after threatening to take his video games away for a year.
See also: out, wrest
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wrest someone or something (away) from someone or something

to struggle to get someone or something from the grip of someone or something. The kidnappers wrested the baby from his mother and ran away with him. The policeman wrested the gun away from Lefty.
See also: wrest

wrest something off (of) something

 and wrest something off
to struggle to get something off something. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) Somehow he wrested the hubcap off the wheel. He wrested off the hubcap.
See also: off, wrest
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

wrest from

v.
1. To obtain something from someone or something by pulling with violent twisting movements: I wrested the hammer from his fist.
2. To usurp or obtain possession of something forcefully from someone or something: The duke wrested power from the monarchy.
3. To extract something from someone or something by or as if by force, twisting, or persistent effort: In class I struggled to wrest the meaning from an obscure poem.
See also: wrest

wrest off

v.
To obtain or remove something from someone or something by pulling with violent twisting movements: The thief wrested off the hood ornament from the car. I wrested the car keys off him.
See also: off, wrest

wrest out

v.
1. To obtain something from someone or something by pulling with violent twisting movements: The farmer dug into the soil and wrested out a fresh turnip. The bullies wrested the book out of the little boy's hands and ran off with it.
2. To extract something from someone or something by or as if by force, twisting, or persistent effort: I was finally able to wrest out some meaning from the jumbled essay. The police wrested a confession out of the suspect.
3. To escape from something by pulling with violent twisting movements: The cat wrested out of my arms and jumped to the floor.
See also: out, wrest
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • 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
  • bear off from (someone or something)
  • beware of
  • beware of (someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
When her alarm went off, she awoke to find Wrest in her bedroom.
Man jailed for burglary; NEWS WIRE
A 41 square kilometres area was wrested by the neighbouring country in Kunar province, he told tribal elders from, Door Baba, Nazyan, Lalpura, Goshta, Momand Dara, Kooz Kunar (Khewa) and Dara-i-Noor districts.
Pakistan accused of seizing Afghan territory
PARKSTONE are making a determined bid to wrest the Carling CIU Games League Division One title away from champions Bell Green.
Parkstone hold off Bell Green; GAME ON: INDOOR GAMES
The borough had been battling to wrest the derelict site from Helmsely for several years and sued the owner to have it declared an area in need of redevelopment.
Fort Lee gets one up on its neighbors; $1b Centuria is dubbed Gold Coast's crown jewel
Twin little girl psychics seek to wrest control of the future of humanity's destiny, while the hidden secrets of a frozen dinosaur carcass may yet contain clues to make scientists dream.
Travel in the Mouth of the Wolf
It took $75-million in cost reductions at the plant since 1999, and improvements in both uptime and quality for GM's Saginaw Metal Casting Operations to wrest the new V8 away from competitors in Mexico.
Cast in foam: lost foam casting at GM has moved from being a Saturn exclusive to a more commonplace technology. It is a simple process, but one that depends on subtle adjustments and experience to produce the best results. (On Cars)
Instead, she asserts that landlords used the reports of rebellions as political weapons to assert their control over nativist organizations that attempted to wrest control from the landlords.
Indigenous Mestizos: The Politics of Race and Culture in Cuzco, Peru, 1919-1991. (Reviews)
It covers every aspect of the air war, from the first ground-attack missions following the Communist invasion of South Korea through the strategic bombing campaign using USAF B-29s, and the occasional but intense Communist efforts to wrest control of the air from United Nations forces.
Professional reading
The book shows us how Southerners, decisively whipped on the battlefield, managed, nevertheless, to wrest a victory on the intellectual, social, and economic fronts.
Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory
interfaith religious leaders meeting here that they must wrest the language of belief away from those "who concoct weapons out of religions."
Reclaiming `language of belief': religious scholars have crucial role, statesman (Mohammad Khatami) says
It is unfathomable that he would attempt to take Martha Graham's work away from Martha Graham's company; he is no dancer; he has never known how it should be danced, and now he wishes to wrest it from the dancers who do.
Agnes and Martha and Ron
While most Chinese mobile phone systems use the European GSM standard, the United States has managed to wrest an agreement from China to allow the U.S.-developed CDMA mobile phone system compete in the Chinese market.
LEAD: China now the world's 2nd mobile phone user, after U.S
Intel led unit sales for the third month in a row, as it continues to attempt to wrest control of the category from long-time market leader Logitech.
PC Video Camera Sales Explode In November
Jabbing sperm directly into flesh may have developed to circumvent female devices to control fertilization or wrest some unintended benefit from it, Michiels speculates.
Hermaphrodites duel for manhood