wreak

5 definitions found

wreak - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Wreak \Wreak\ (r[=e]k), v. i.
     To reck; to care. [Obs.] --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

  Wreak \Wreak\ (r[=e]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wreaked (r[=e]kt);
     p. pr. & vb. n. Wreaking.] [OE. wreken to revenge, punish,
     drive out, AS. wrecan; akin to OFries. wreka, OS. wrekan to
     punish, D. wreken to avenge, G. r[aum]chen, OHG. rehhan,
     Icel. reka to drive, to take vengeance, Goth. wrikan to
     persecute, Lith. vargas distress, vargti to suffer distress,
     L. urgere to drive, urge, Gr. e'i`rgein to shut, Skr. v[.r]j
     to turn away. Cf. Urge, Wreck, Wretch.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To revenge; to avenge. [Archaic]
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              He should wreake him on his foes.     --Chaucer.
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              Another's wrongs to wreak upon thyself. --Spenser.
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              Come wreak his loss, whom bootless ye complain.
                                                    --Fairfax.
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     2. To inflict or execute, especially in vengeance or passion;
        to hurl or drive; as, to wreak vengeance on an enemy; to
        wreak havoc.
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     Note: The word wrought is sometimes assumed to be the past
           tense of wreak, as the phrases
  
     wreak havoc and
  
     wrought havoc are both commonly used. In fact,
  
     wrought havoc is not as common as
  
     wreaked havoc. Whether wrought is considered as the past
        tense of wreak or of work,
  
     wrought havoc has essentially the same meaning.
        Etymologically, however, wrought is only the past tense of
        work.
        [PJC]
  
              On me let Death wreak all his rage.   --Milton.
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              Now was the time to be avenged on his old enemy, to
              wreak a grudge of seventeen years.    --Macaulay.
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              But gather all thy powers,
              And wreak them on the verse that thou dost weave.
                                                    --Bryant.
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  Wreak \Wreak\, n. [Cf. AS. wr[ae]c exile, persecution, misery.
     See Wreak, v. t.]
     Revenge; vengeance; furious passion; resentment. [Obs.]
     --Shak. Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]

wreak - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  wreak
      v 1: cause to happen or to occur as a consequence; "I cannot
           work a miracle"; "wreak havoc"; "bring comments"; "play a
           joke"; "The rain brought relief to the drought-stricken
           area" [syn: bring, work, play, wreak, make for]

wreak - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  28 Moby Thesaurus words for "wreak":
     accomplish, achieve, bring, bring about, bring off, bring to pass,
     bring upon, commit, do, do to, effect, effectuate, force,
     go and do, impose, inflict, make, pay, perpetrate, produce,
     pull off, realize, render, take and do, up and do, visit,
     visit upon, wreck