Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The destruction, disorganization, disruption, or ruin of anything by force and violence; dilapidation: as, the wreck of a bridge; the wreck of one's fortunes.
- noun That which is in a state of wreck or ruin, or remains from the operation of any destroying agency: as, the building is a mere wreck; he is but the wreck of his former self.
- noun The partial or total destruction of a vessel at sea or in any navigable water, by any accident of navigation or by the force of the elements; shipwreck.
- noun A vessel ruined by wreck; the hulk and spars, more or less dismembered and shattered, of a vessel cast away or completely disabled by breaching, staving, or otherwise breaking.
- noun That which is east ashore by the sea; shipwrecked property, whether a part of the ship or of the cargo; wreckage; in old Eng. common law, derelict of the sea cast upon land within the body of a country, and not in the possession of the owner or his agents.
- noun Seaweeds cast ashore by storms; wrack.
- To cause the wreck of, as a vessel; suffer to be ruined or destroyed in the course of navigation or management: said specifically of the person under whose charge a vessel is at the time of its wreck, and usually implying blame, even in case of misfortune.
- To cause the downfall or overthrow of; ruin; shatter; destroy; bring into a disabled or ruinous condition by any means: as, to
wreck a railroad-train or a bank; to wreck the fortunes of a family. - To involve in a wreck; imperil or damage by wreck: as, a wrecked sailor; wrecked cargo
- To suffer wreck or ruin.
- noun An obsolete form of
wreak .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled or sunk by the force of winds or waves; shipwreck.
- noun Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin.
- noun The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture.
- noun The remain of anything ruined or fatally injured.
- noun (Law) Goods, etc., which, after a shipwreck, are cast upon the land by the sea.
- verb See 2d & 3d
wreak . - transitive verb To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving it against the shore or on rocks, by causing it to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to shipwreck.
- transitive verb To bring wreck or ruin upon by any kind of violence; to destroy, as a railroad train.
- transitive verb To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
- intransitive verb To suffer wreck or ruin.
- intransitive verb To work upon a wreck, as in saving property or lives, or in plundering.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Something or someone that has been
ruined . - noun The remains of something that has been
severely damaged or worn down. - noun An event in which something is damaged through
collision . - verb To cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
- verb To ruin or
dilapidate . - verb To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts. (Australia)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an accident that destroys a ship at sea
- noun something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
- noun a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles)
- noun a ship that has been destroyed at sea
- verb smash or break forcefully
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The real train wreck is the republican party, who has done everything possible to dismantle the working class and disfortunate in this country.
McConnell: Health care bill a 'legislative train wreck' 2009
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"Train wreck" is a perfect description for Langridge's work on the Muppet book.
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The accident, the fiscal train wreck, is already under way.
Matthew Yglesias » Kinsley’s Transcendental Deduction of Hyperinflation 2010
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July 28th, 2009 4: 03 pm ET yea, just like watching a train wreck is fascinating .....
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Why are people paying attention to this train wreck is sicking.
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It's a train wreck from the first -- it makes Cop Rock look like a bright idea.
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If EVER a group of sincere workers has been run over by management, this train wreck is IT.
Medpundit 2006
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I love that they actually have a blow-by-blow “Latest Rulings” section to see just how the DeLay train wreck is going.
Think Progress » Desperate for Supporters, DeLay Turns to Stephen Colbert 2006
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Now imagine that the boss of this wreck is a weak-willed paper-pusher who abhors confrontations, and everyone knows he has a 70% chance of being fired at the end of the year.
Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » The Clusterf**K Continues 2010
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And if that rat head is what you call a wreck, I would love to see some of your "non-wrecks"!
oroboros commented on the word wreck
What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches? A nervous wreck!
January 7, 2010