From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wrest \Wrest\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wrested; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wresting.] [OE. wresten, AS. wr?stan; akin to wr?? a
twisted band, and wr[imac]?n to twist. See Writhe.]
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1. To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence;
to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or
twisting. "The secret wrested from me." --Milton.
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Our country's cause,
That drew our swords, now secret wrests them from
our hand. --Addison.
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They instantly wrested the government out of the
hands of Hastings. --Macaulay.
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2. To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper
use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort.
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Wrest once the law to your authority. --Shak.
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Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor. --Ex.
xxiii. 6.
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Their arts of wresting, corrupting, and false
interpreting the holy text. --South.
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3. To tune with a wrest, or key. [Obs.]
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wrest \Wrest\, n.
1. The act of wresting; a wrench; a violent twist; hence,
distortion; perversion. --Hooker.
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2. Active or moving power. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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3. A key to tune a stringed instrument of music.
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The minstrel . . . wore round his neck a silver
chain, by which hung the wrest, or key, with which
he tuned his harp. --Sir W.
Scott.
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4. A partition in a water wheel, by which the form of the
buckets is determined.
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Wrest pin (Piano Manuf.), one of the pins around which the
ends of the wires are wound in a piano. --Knight.
Wrest plank (Piano Manuf.), the part in which the wrest
pins are inserted.
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