Definition

To forcefully take or seize something from someone, often by grappling or twisting.

Pronunciation

US English

UK English


See Synonyms, Antonyms and Usage

Excerpts from News Articles

The parliamentary deadlock prompted moves by MPs from different parties to wrest control of the Brexit process and allow a series of "indicative votes" to explore alternative solutions to the government's deal. But there was no majority for any particular solution, other than an opposition to no-deal.

Logo 2022-12-29 EURO News

The suspect went to the second location with the "intent to kill more people," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said, but two people successfully disarmed the suspect by wresting the weapon out of his hands.

Logo 2023-01-23 NPR

Amid the flourishing of Russia-China ties—said in a joint statement on March 22nd to have reached their “highest level in history”—a few Chinese have dared to recall how their country ceded vast swathes of territory, including Vladivostok, to the tsarist empire back in the 19th century. In the past month they have fumed on social media over the “unequal treaties” that wrested away this land.

Logo 2023-03-30 The Economist

Trump’s lawyers attempted to wrest some control of the court proceedings on Monday, arguing against a request by news organizations, including CNN, to allow television cameras into Tuesday’s arraignment. The media outlets argued that the case was of such public interest that it should be broadcast.

Logo 2023-04-04 CNN News

Although US-led troops were able to quickly remove the Taliban from power, they never managed to ensure a lasting defeat of the group or wrest full control over the mountainous country.

Logo 2023-04-06 Al Jazeera

Myanmar has been gripped by a bloody civil war since the junta led by general Min Aung Hlaing wrested power by overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 February coup.

Logo 2023-04-11 The Independent

China national Chen Shuo, a 23-year-old machinist working for Ace-Z, pleaded guilty to one count of abetting theft by holding the man down so his accomplice could wrest the bag of cash away.

Logo 2023-04-12 Channel NewsAsia

Myanmar has been gripped by a bloody civil war since the junta led by General Min Aung Hlaing wrested power by overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 February coup. The military is increasingly using airstrikes to counter a widespread armed struggle against its rule.

Logo 2023-04-12 The Independent

Jude She’s super centrist. She voted Labour a lot in the past – we agreed on liking Corbyn. But now she’s active in the Tory party. Obviously, I asked about her rationale. And she talked about changing it from within, wresting it out of the hands of old white men. I think she felt the student Labour activists were very black-and-white, dogmatic, a bit intimidating maybe. That made me cross and a bit frustrated, actually.

Logo 2023-04-13 The Guardian

Two people close to James Murdoch say he is biding his time until he and his sisters can wrest control from Lachlan. Some think James would purge Fox News and transform it into a centre-right alternative to CNN; others think he would sell up to private equity, prompting a “visceral fear” inside the network about its future.

Logo 2023-04-13 The Guardian

The twice-impeached Trump, of course, has declared his candidacy, used his legal troubles to raise millions, and has the enduring adoration of the Maga crowd. Because of his iron grip on those stalwarts, and thus his control – even if waning somewhat – of the benighted Republican party, it’s hard to imagine a Ron DeSantis or a Glenn Youngkin, the governors of Florida and Virginia respectively, actually wresting the Republican nomination from him. Or anyone else doing so.

Logo 2023-04-14 The Guardian

While he wrestles with how to wrest himself from his master, with encouragement from the group’s coordinator Mark (a very funny Brandon Scott Jones), the story taps open a new narrative vein and starts to hemorrhage.

Logo 2023-04-14 Literary Hub

It is unclear how much control the RSF has wrested from the country’s military. Dagalo claims he now controls the country’s main military sites, a claim repeatedly disputed by Burhan.

Logo 2023-04-17 CNN News

The metaverse -- a growing number of immersive virtual online worlds where users live and play -- has become a hotbed of real estate speculation. Investors are betting on it being an integral part of a possible paradigm shift in how we use the internet -- a decentralized version called Web3 , which its supporters argue will wrest control of the web from big tech companies and distribute power, privacy and security back to users.

Logo 2023-04-18 CNN News

Eventually, the swell of the crowd knocked him down, he said, and in the chaos, he observed another rioter wrest a shield from the same officer, and Pezzola managed to grab the loose shield for himself.

Logo 2023-04-19 Politico

Munari, 49, went downstairs and found that a 10-foot statue of Jesus had been wrested off its pedestal and thrown to the ground, its face partially destroyed. When the church’s doorman tackled the man suspected of toppling the statue on Feb. 2, Jewish ritual tassels that had been concealed under his clothes emerged, the Franciscan friar said.

Logo 2023-04-20 MSNBC News

In Nyala, a city in South Darfur, RSF forces have wrested control of many former army bases and are now in control. Dozens of facilities run by international aid organisations in the region have been looted or burned, along with government offices, and many civilians killed or wounded, according to local civil society sources.

Logo 2023-04-20 The Guardian

While Dye characterized the development as the district attorney’s office having withdrawn its appeal of the district court’s decision, a spokesperson for Bragg described it as a “successful” effort to wrest a concession from the committee: the presence of Bragg’s general counsel during the Pomerantz interview. Bragg’s office called it an “agreement that protects the District Attorney’s privileges and interests.”

Logo 2023-04-21 Politico

As the mob amassed at the foot of the Capitol, police began to launch crowd control munitions. Amid the chaos that ensued, Pezzola helped wrest free a riot shield from a Capitol Police officer that he quickly carted away.

Logo 2023-04-24 Politico

“Some days the prime minister could laugh it off, but other days he didn’t,” according to Gove. This led, the book claims, to an outburst from Johnson as he attempted to wrest back control of Downing Street: “I am meant to be in control. I am the Fuhrer. I am the King who takes the decisions.”

Logo 2023-04-24 RT News

DeSantis’ battle against Disney has been rocky at best for the likely presidential hopeful. In the governor’s effort to wrest control of Disney’s Orlando-area theme parks, he found that Disney’s corporate lawyers have routinely outmaneuvered him.

Logo 2023-04-26 CNN News

If Kyiv can wrest back control of the south, it could regain unimpeded access to its Black Sea export routes at a time when Russia has signalled it may slam the grain corridor shut.

Logo 2023-04-27 Reuters

But Newby said a partisan gerrymandering prohibition is absent from the plain language of the constitution. He argued that current and former colleagues who declared otherwise had wrongly wrested power away from the General Assembly, which the state constitution designates as the mapmakers.

Logo 2023-04-28 Associated Press

Youngkin (R) needs the GOP to hold onto the House of Delegates and flip the narrowly divided state Senate to have any chance of wresting big wins out of the General Assembly — or of keeping the buzz alive about his potential 2024 presidential bid, political analysts said.

Logo 2023-04-28 The Washington Post

Typically, the party that controls the White House — the Democrats in this case — suffers substantial losses in the midterms. While the GOP narrowly wrested control of the House in 2022, President Joe Biden’s party defied expectations by retaining command of the Senate.

Logo 2023-04-29 MSNBC News

Japanese Americans’ losses and suffering did not emerge in an environmental vacuum. The federal government’s decision to wrest them away from their land and place them in unfamiliar and unforgiving places contributed to and amplified wartime inequities.


Since taking power after an election that was widely seen as fraudulent by both domestic and international observers, President Felix Tshisekedi has brazenly violated our constitution in a selfish pursuit to once again wrest power away from the Congolese people.

Logo 2023-04-30 Al Jazeera

DeSantis will need a boost to wrest the nomination from Trump, who has maintained his grip on the Republican Party despite his 2020 election loss and his recent indictment on charges related to hush money payments to a porn star.

Logo 2023-05-03 Reuters

After 20 years of increasingly autocratic rule Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president, risks eviction by voters. The polls also suggest that the united opposition could wrest control of parliament from Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development ( ak ) party and its allies. Were Mr Erdogan to lose, it would be a stunning political reversal with global consequences.

Logo 2023-05-04 The Economist

The legislature formed the board in February to replace the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District to oversee development in the 25,000 acres (10,120 hectares) surrounding Walt Disney World, effectively wresting control from the company and handing it to DeSantis.

Logo 2023-05-05 Reuters

Goldman Sachs Economics noted May 1 that the GOP is also factoring in the 2024 election into any debt ceiling strategy, as it “presents the best opportunity for congressional Republicans to wrest any policy concessions from the President.”

Logo 2023-05-06 MSNBC News

The legislature formed the board in February to replace the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District to oversee development in the 10,120 hectares surrounding Walt Disney World, effectively wresting control from the company and handing it to DeSantis.

Logo 2023-05-06 Channel NewsAsia

Also on Saturday, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces accused Russia of using phosphorous munitions in its attempt to wrest control of the eastern city of Bakhmut from Ukrainian forces.

Logo 2023-05-06 CNBC