Dictionary definitions
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wrest
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wrest \Wrest\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrested; p. pr. & vb. n. Wresting.] [OE. wresten, AS. wr?stan; akin to wr?? a twisted band, and wr[imac]?n to twist. See Writhe.] [1913 Webster] 1. To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence; to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or twisting. "The secret wrested from me." --Milton. [1913 Webster] Our country's cause, That drew our swords, now secret wrests them from our hand. --Addison. [1913 Webster] They instantly wrested the government out of the hands of Hastings. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 2. To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort. [1913 Webster] Wrest once the law to your authority. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor. --Ex. xxiii. 6. [1913 Webster] Their arts of wresting, corrupting, and false interpreting the holy text. --South. [1913 Webster] 3. To tune with a wrest, or key. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] .
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wrest \Wrest\, n.
1. The act of wresting; a wrench; a violent twist; hence,
distortion; perversion. --Hooker.
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2. Active or moving power. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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3. A key to tune a stringed instrument of music.
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The minstrel . . . wore round his neck a silver
chain, by which hung the wrest, or key, with which
he tuned his harp. --Sir W.
Scott.
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4. A partition in a water wheel, by which the form of the
buckets is determined.
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Wrest pin (Piano Manuf.), one of the pins around which the
ends of the wires are wound in a piano. --Knight.
Wrest plank (Piano Manuf.), the part in which the wrest
pins are inserted.
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