wreck

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

wreck, v. t. & n. 

 See 2d & 3d Wreak.  [1913 Webster]

wreck, n. [OE. wrak, AS. wræc exile, persecution, misery, from wrecan to drive out, punish; akin to D. wrak, adj., damaged, brittle, n., a wreck, wraken to reject, throw off, Icel. rek a thing drifted ashore, Sw. vrak refuse, a wreck, Dan. vrag. See Wreak, v. t., and cf. Wrack a marine plant.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Hard and obstinate
  As is a rock amidst the raging floods,
  'Gainst which a ship, of succor desolate,
  Doth suffer wreck, both of herself and goods."  [1913 Webster]
•  Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin; as, the wreck of a railroad train.  [1913 Webster]

  "The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds."  [1913 Webster]

  "Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life."  [1913 Webster]
•  The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture; as, they burned the wreck.  [1913 Webster]
•  The remain of anything ruined or fatally injured.  [1913 Webster]

  "To the fair haven of my native home,
  The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come."  [1913 Webster]
•  Goods, etc., which, after a shipwreck, are cast upon the land by the sea.  Bouvier.  [1913 Webster]

wreck, v. t. 

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked."  [1913 Webster]
•  To bring wreck or ruin upon by any kind of violence; to destroy, as a railroad train.  [1913 Webster]
•  To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.  [1913 Webster]

  "Weak and envied, if they should conspire,
  They wreck themselves."  [1913 Webster]

wreck, v. i. 

•  To suffer wreck or ruin.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  To work upon a wreck, as in saving property or lives, or in plundering.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

wreck, n. & v.
--n.
1 the destruction or disablement esp. of a ship.
2 a ship that has suffered a wreck (the shores are strewn with wrecks).
3 a greatly damaged or disabled building, thing, or person (had become a physical and mental wreck).
4 (foll. by of) a wretched remnant or disorganized set of remains.
5 Law goods etc. cast up by the sea.
--v.
1 tr. cause the wreck of (a ship etc.).
2 tr. completely ruin (hopes, chances, etc.).
3 intr. suffer a wreck.
4 tr. (as wrecked adj.) involved in a shipwreck (wrecked sailors).
5 intr. US deal with wrecked vehicles etc.

Idiom

wreck-master an officer appointed to take charge of goods etc. cast up from a wrecked ship.

Etymology

ME f. AF wrec etc. (cf. VAREC) f. a Gmc root meaning 'to drive': cf. WREAK

THESAURUS

wreck

accident, assault, atomize, attack, auto, autocar, automobile, bankrupt, barbarize, batter, beach, blight, bloodbath, blow, blue ruin, boat, botch, break to pieces, breakdown, breaking up, breakup, bring to ruin, brutalize, bugger, buggy, burn, bus, butcher, calamity, car, carcass, carnage, carry on, cast away, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, cave, cave-in, cleave, collapse, collision, condemn, confound, consume, consumption, contretemps, crack-up, crash, crate, cripple, damn, damnation, de-energize, deal destruction, debacle, debilitate, decimate, decimation, demolish, depredate, depredation, desolate, desolation, despoil, despoilment, despoliation, destroy, destruction, devastate, devastation, devour, dilapidate, disable, disassemble, disaster, disenable, disintegrate, disintegration, dismantle, disorganization, disruption, dissolution, dissolve, do in, dog, drain, enfeeble, engorge, force, fragment, go on, gobble, gobble up, grief, ground, gut, gut with fire, hammer, hamstring, havoc, heap, hecatomb, holocaust, hors de combat, hulk, ill hap, impose, inactivate, incapacitate, incinerate, jalopy, kibosh, lame, lay in ruins, lay waste, loot, machine, maim, make mincemeat of, mar, maul, mere wreck, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, motor, motor vehicle, motorcar, motorized vehicle, mug, nasty blow, nervous wreck, perdition, pick to pieces, pile up, pileup, pillage, play havoc with, plunder, pull in pieces, pull to pieces, pulverize, put, queer, queer the works, rage, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, rattletrap, ravage, rave, raze, reduce to rubble, rend, riot, roar, ruin, ruinate, ruination, ruins, run aground, sabotage, sack, savage, shambles, shatter, shipwreck, shock, skeleton, slaughter, smash, smashup, sow chaos, spike, split, spoil, spoliation, staggering blow, storm, strand, subvert, sunder, swallow up, take apart, take the ground, tear, tear apart, tear around, tear to pieces, tear to shreds, tear to tatters, terrorize, throw into disorder, total, total loss, tragedy, trash, tub, unbuild, undermine, undo, undoing, unfit, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, vandalism, vandalize, vaporize, violate, visit, voiture, washout, waste, weaken, wheels, wing, wrack, wrack and ruin, wrack up, wreak, wreak havoc

ROGET THESAURUS

wreck

Deterioration

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Remainder

N remainder, residue, remains, remanent, remnant, rest, relic, leavings, heeltap, odds and ends, cheesepairings, candle ends, orts, residuum, dregs, refuse, stubble, result, educt, fag-end, ruins, wreck, skeleton, stump, alluvium, surplus, overplus, excess, balance, complement, superplus, surplusage, superfluity, survival, survivance, remaining, left, left behind left over, residual, residuary, over, odd, unconsumed, sedimentary, surviving, net, exceeding, over and above, outlying, outstanding, cast off, superfluous.

Failure

N failure, nonsuccess, nonfulfillment, dead failure, successlessness, abortion, miscarriage, brutum fulmen, labor in vain, no go, inefficacy, inefficaciousness, vain attempt, ineffectual attempt, abortive attempt, abortive efforts, flash in the pan, lame and impotent conclusion, frustration, slip 'twixt cup and lip, blunder, fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication, footfall, false step, wrong step, faux pas, titubation, b_evue, faute, lurch, botchery, scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown, flunk, mishap, split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion, repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture, beating, drubbing, quietus, nonsuit, subjugation, checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate, fall, downfall, ruin, perdition, wreck, deathblow, bankruptcy, losing game, affaire flamb_ee, victim, bankrupt, flunker, flunky, unsuccessful, successless, failing, tripping, at fault, unfortunate, abortive, addle, stillborn, fruitless, bootless, ineffectual, ineffective, inconsequential, trifling, nugatory, inefficient, insufficient, unavailing, of no effect, aground, grounded, swamped, stranded, cast away, wrecked, foundered, capsized, shipwrecked, nonsuited, foiled, defeated, struck down, borne down, broken down, downtrodden, overborne, overwhelmed, all up with, ploughed, plowed, plucked, lost, undone, ruined, broken, bankrupt, played out, done up, done for, dead beat, ruined root and branch, flambe, knocked on the head, destroyed, frustrated, crossed, unhinged, disconcerted dashed, thrown off one's balance, thrown on one's back, thrown on one's beam ends, unhorsed, in a sorry plight, hard hit, stultified, befooled, dished, hoist on one's own petard, victimized, sacrificed, wide of the mark, out of one's reckoning, left in the lurch, thrown away, unattained, uncompleted, unsuccessfully, to little or no purpose, in vain, re infecta, the bubble has burst, the jig is up, the game is up, all is lost, the devil to pay, parturiunt montes, dies infaustus, tout est perdu hors l'honneur.

Destruction

N destruction, waste, dissolution, breaking up, diruption, disruption, consumption, disorganization, fall, downfall, devastation, ruin, perdition, crash, eboulement, smash, havoc, delabrement, debacle, break down, break up, fall apart, prostration, desolation, bouleversement, wreck, wrack, shipwreck, cataclysm, washout, extinction, annihilation, destruction of life, knock-down blow, doom, crack of doom, destroying, demolition, demolishment, overthrow, subversion, suppression, abolition, biblioclasm, sacrifice, ravage, razzia, inactivation, incendiarism, revolution, extirpation, beginning of the end, commencement de la fin, road to ruin, dilapidation, sabotage, destroyed, perishing, trembling to its fall, nodding to its fall, tottering to its fall, in course of destruction, extinct, all-destroying, all-devouring, all-engulfing, destructive, subversive, ruinous, devastating, incendiary, deletory, destroying, suicidal, deadly, with crushing effect, with a sledge hammer, delenda est Carthago, dum Roma deliberat Saguntum perit, ecrasez l'infame.

VB be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.