wrecker

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wreck·er

(rĕk′ər)

1. One that wrecks or destroys: a wrecker of dreams.

a. One who is in the business of demolishing old buildings.

b. One who dismantles cars for salvage.

3. A tow truck used to move disabled or wrecked vehicles.

4. One who lures a vessel to destruction, as by a display of lights on a rocky coastline, in order to plunder it.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wrecker

(ˈrɛkə)

1. a person or thing that ruins or destroys

2. (Building) chiefly US and Canadian a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars

3. (Automotive Engineering) chiefly US and Canadian a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars

4. (Nautical Terms) (formerly) a person who lures ships to destruction to plunder the wreckage

5. (Automotive Engineering) US and Canadian another word for tow truck

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wreck•er

(ˈrɛk ər)

n.

1. a person or thing that wrecks.

2. a person, car, or train employed in removing wreckage, debris, etc., as from railroad tracks.

3. Also called tow car , tow truck. a vehicle equipped with a mechanical apparatus for hoisting and pulling, used to tow wrecked, disabled, or stalled automobiles.

4. a person or business that demolishes and removes houses or other buildings, as in clearing sites for other use.

5. a person or vessel employed in recovering salvage from wrecked or disabled vessels.

6. a person who plunders wrecks, esp. after exhibiting false signals in order to cause shipwrecks.

[1795–1805]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	wrecker - someone who demolishes or dismantles buildings as a job housewrecker, housebreaker - a wrecker of houses; "in England a housewrecker is called a housebreaker" knacker - someone who buys old buildings or ships and breaks them up to recover the materials in them laborer, labourer, manual laborer, jack - someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor
	2.	wrecker - someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks diversionist, saboteur ruiner, uprooter, waster, destroyer, undoer - a person who destroys or ruins or lays waste to; "a destroyer of the environment"; "jealousy was his undoer"; "uprooters of gravestones" sleeper - a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal
	3.	wrecker - a truck equipped to hoist and pull wrecked cars (or to remove cars from no-parking zones) tow car, tow truck motortruck, truck - an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling

wrecker

noun

Something that causes total loss or severe impairment, as of one's health, fortune, honor, or hopes:

bane, destroyer, destruction, downfall, ruin, ruination, undoing.

Translations

عَرَبَة الَأعطال

odtahový vůz

kranbil

Pannenfahrzeug

φορτηγάκι οδικής βοήθειας

grúa vehículo de asistencia en carretera

tiepalveluauto

dépanneusedépanneuse lourde

vozilo za pomoć na cesti

carro attrezzi carro di soccorso demolitore sabotatore saccheggiatore

レッカー車

견인차

takelwagen

bergingsbil

samochód pomocy drogowej

van de resgate veículo de assistência na estrada

автомобиль технической помощи баба

bärgningsbil

รถตู้สำหรับลาก

kurtarma aracı

xe van cứu hộ

抛锚的小货车

wrecker

[ˈrekəʳ] N

1. (= destroyer) (gen) → destructor(a) m/f (Hist) [of ships] → saboteador(a) m/f persona que que se dedicaba a provocar naufragios

2. (US) (= breaker, salvager) → demoledor m

3. (US) (= breakdown van) → camión-grúa m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wrecker

[ˈrɛkə^r] n (US) (= breakdown van) → dépanneuse f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

wrecker

(= ship wrecker) → Strandräuber m (der Schiffe durch falsche Lichtsignale zum Stranden bringt)

(Naut, = salvager) → Bergungsarbeiter(in) m(f); (= vessel) → Bergungsschiff nt

(US) (= breaker, salvager) → Schrotthändler(in) m(f); (for buildings) → Abbrucharbeiter(in) m(f)

(US: = breakdown van) → Abschleppwagen m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

wrecker

[ˈrɛkəʳ] n (Naut) (salvager) → addetto al ricupero di relitti (Am) (breaker, salvager) → demolitore m; (breakdown van) → carro m attrezzi inv

wrecker

→ عَرَبَة الَأعطال odtahový vůz kranbil Pannenfahrzeug φορτηγάκι οδικής βοήθειας grúa, vehículo de asistencia en carretera tiepalveluauto dépanneuse vozilo za pomoć na cesti carro attrezzi レッカー車 견인차 takelwagen bergingsbil samochód pomocy drogowej van de resgate, veículo de assistência na estrada автомобиль технической помощи bärgningsbil รถตู้สำหรับลาก kurtarma aracı xe van cứu hộ 抛锚的小货车

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References in classic literature ?

They pounced upon the floating merchandise with the keenness of regular wreckers. A bale of goods which landed upon one of the islands was immediately ripped open, one half of its contents divided among the captors, and the other half secreted in a lonely hut in a deep ravine.

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ye Chatham wreckers' Git aout with your brick in your stock in'!" And the forces separated, but Chatham had the worst of it.

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We remained here a week, were not ill-treated by the wreckers, and at length obtained a passage to New York.

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The four pushed side by side; the outer wall bulged, split, and fell, and the villagers, dumb with horror, saw the savage, clay-streaked heads of the wreckers in the ragged gap.

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You say you don't want to be a marriage wrecker - then don't be.

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But in February it was claimed that she'd called it off because she "hated being labelled a home wrecker".

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead confirm they're BACK TOGETHER despite claims she dumped him; She was rumoured to have dumped him because she 'hated being labelled a home wrecker'

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Tow bars for 5- and 2.5-ton trucks were not properly resourced before the movement, so a wrecker had to move these disabled vehicles.

Sustaining Strykers over four days through four countries: a forward support troop that maintained vehicles convoying 798 kilometers through Europe provides lessons learned on vehicle maintenance, recovery, and fuel consumption

Obasanjo, posted the story with the caption: "Fani-Kayode is a democracy wrecker, who's very fluent in stupidity.

I don't have accounts on social media OBJ

Next, he stretched the frame 12 inches, accommodating a wrecker platform he fabricated and mounted on the rear.

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I'm confused about the use of multiple use adapters (MUAs) with HEMTT wreckers. Can you break it down for me?

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She added that some have even called her a home wrecker - a comment she called ridiculous considering she never knew him when he was married.