wreck

wreck (rek)

noun

goods or wreckage cast ashore after a shipwreck
1. the disabling or destruction of a ship by a storm or other disaster; shipwreck
2. a ship that has been disabled or destroyed by a storm or other disaster
the remains of anything that has been destroyed or badly damaged
a person who is physically in very poor health or emotionally upset or exhausted
a wrecking or being wrecked; destruction; ruin

Etymology: ME wrek < Anglo-Fr wrec < ON vrek, driftwood, wreckage, akin to MDu wrak, wrack: for IE base see wreak

transitive verb

intransitive verb

The act of wrecking
destruction, demolition, razing, breaking up, ruination, sabotage, smash, breakdown, bust*.
Anything wrecked
junk, ruins, skeleton, hulk, stubble, collapse, bones, scattered parts, rattletrap, relic, litter, pieces, shreds, waste, wreckage, debris.
A shipwreck
sea disaster, sinking, running aground, debacle, foundering.
An accident
crash, car-crash, collision, smash-up*, pileup*, fender-bender*; see also collision 1.
*A person in poor physical condition
incurable, invalid, consumptive, nervous case, overworked person, cripple, mess, goner, washout, scrub, shadow, skin-and-bones, walking nightmare.

To bring to ruin
spoil, ruin, destroy, disfigure, mangle, smash, tear down, raze, break, split, efface, batter, torpedo, tear to pieces, put out of order, impair, injure, stave in, bash in, mess up*, play hell with*, put out of commission*.
Antonyms repair*, restore*, rebuild. *
To shipwreck
capsize, sink, founder, split on the rocks, crash on the beach, run aground, scuttle.

Object

havoc: By the end of his 5 overs spell Pitts had wrecked havoc.
spree: Dozens of windows were smashed during the senseless wrecking spree at Monteagle Primary, Burnham Road, Dagenham, on Saturday afternoon.
amendment: But the wrecking amendments had been drafted by the government - not the industry.
ship: She was at the fishing up of the wrecked plate ships.

Converse of object

gibber: Whether they end up a fighting machine or a gibbering wreck ' ' Or a corpse.
dive: Last year, we dived 5 wrecks over the 4 trips, these were: Small unknown at max depth 25 meters.
penetrate: Most people got the chance to explore and penetrate the wreck leaving everybody happy if not battered and bruised.

Adjective modifier

sunken: They can range from colorful reefs to large pelagic species and from cave systems to sunken wrecks.
nervous: I'm a nervous wreck by the time I finish the trip.
burnt-out: There's a new boulangerie on the corner, but the burnt-out wreck that was once a restaurant remains a burnt-out wreck.
colossal: Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
intact: The Hispania is the most intact wreck in the Sound as it sits upright with its deck in about 15m.
unidentified: Possibly the Largo Bay lies next to her, but more likely she is one of the unidentified wrecks nearby.

Preposition: on

reef: She is an item in the natural order, a ship wrecked on a reef.

Modifies a noun

diving: I have to say the quality of the wreck diving blew me away.
diver: Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands Scapa is a wreck divers paradise.
dive: Wrecks The best wreck dive in the area is the Maverick, a former ferry, sunk on 4 April 1997.
penetration: Consider using a brightly colored, heavier line, such as those used for wreck penetration.

Preposition: of

Scylla: BBC newsman John McIntyre revisits the wreck of the Scylla on the first anniversary of its sinking and finds a wealth of life.
warship: Several protected wrecks of 18th century warships in the English Channel are known to be at risk from erosion and human disturbance.

Browse dictionary entries near wreck