Wreck

//ˈɹɛk// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something or someone that has been ruined.

    "He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife."

  2. 2
    a ship that has been destroyed at sea wordnet
  3. 3
    The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.

    "To the fair haven of my native home, / The vvreck of vvhat I was, fatigued I come, […]"

  4. 4
    a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles) wordnet
  5. 5
    An event in which something is damaged through collision.

    "Hard and obſtinate, / As is a rocke amidſt the raging floods: / gaynſt vvhich a ſhip of ſuccour deſolate, / doth ſuffer vvreck both of her ſelfe and goods."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    an accident that destroys a ship at sea wordnet
  2. 7
    An event in which something is damaged through collision.; A shipwreck: an event in which a ship is heavily damaged or destroyed. specifically
  3. 8
    something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation wordnet
  4. 9
    Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck. uncountable

    "2. ... Wreck includes the cargo, stores and tackle of a vessel and all parts of a vessel separated from the vessel, and the property of persons who belong to, are on board or have quitted a vessel that is wrecked, stranded or in distress at any place in Canada."

  5. 10
    A large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather.

    "[I]n 1952 more than 7,000 were involved in such a "wreck" in Britain and Ireland."

Verb
  1. 1
    To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless. transitive

    "He wrecked the car in a collision."

  2. 2
    smash or break forcefully wordnet
  3. 3
    To ruin or dilapidate. transitive
  4. 4
    To plunder goods from wrecked ships. obsolete, transitive
  5. 5
    To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts. Australia, transitive
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on. transitive

    "Weak and envy'd, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves, and he hath his Desire."

  2. 7
    To be involved in a wreck; to be damaged or destroyed. intransitive

    "[…] Mrs. Marleen Ketchum was not quite certain if the train wrecked or if the volcano blew its top. It took a moment before she was certain it had to be the passenger train."

Synonyms

All synonyms
crashcrashruinsshipwreckwrackabrogate

Example

More examples

"The divers found a wreck on the sea-bed."

Etymology

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan).

Related phrases

car wreckcatch wreckcheck yourself before you wreck yourselfnerve-wrecknervous wrecktrain wreckwreck carwreck grabwreck havocwreck of the Hesperuswreck shopwreck the hoose juice

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.