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- Dictionarywreak/rēk/
verb
- 1. cause (a large amount of damage or harm): "torrential rainstorms wreaked havoc yesterday"
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Wreak means to inflict or carry out something, especially something harmful—it’s most commonly used in the phrase wreak havoc, meaning to cause chaos or destruction or both. Reek most commonly means to give off a strong, unpleasant odor, as in Your socks reek, dude .
Wreak is a verb that means to cause or inflict a large amount of harm or damage. It is often used in the phrase ' wreak havoc.' On the other hand, reek is generally used as a verb that means to smell strongly and unpleasantly; it can also be a noun referring to a strong and unpleasant smell.
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English wreak /riːk/ verb 1 → wreak havoc/mayhem/destruction (on something) 2 → wreak revenge/vengeance (on somebody) → See Verb table Examples from the Corpus wreak • The story deals with the aftermath of warfare, particularly the devastation wreaked by land mines.
wreak. in English. wreak. verb. These are words and phrases related to wreak. Click on any word or phrase to go to its thesaurus page. Or, go to the definition of wreak. The hurricane wreaked havoc on the town. The angry troops wreaked vengeance on the civilian population.
WREAKED definition: 1. past simple and past participle of wreak 2. to cause something to happen in a violent and often…. Learn more.
The verb wreak'' is generally used in the form “wreak ''damage or harm of some sort'' (on ''something )”, and is often used in the set phrase wreak havoc, though “wreak damage”, “wreak destruction”, and “wreak revenge” are also common.
wreak: To bring about (damage or destruction, for example). from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
verb. Something or someone that wreaks havoc or destruction causes a great amount of disorder or damage. [...] [journalism, literary] See full entry for 'wreak' Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. COBUILD Collocations. wreak havoc. economic havoc.
• Did they hire a private eye to wreak havoc on the life of the harasser? • The storm wreaked havoc on trains and highways, making it unlikely thousands of investors and traders will arrive at work. • And they wreak havoc with the goal of raising revenue efficiently.
wreak. vb tr. 1 to inflict (vengeance, etc.) or to cause (chaos, etc.) to wreak havoc on the enemy. 2 to express, or gratify (anger, hatred, etc.) 3 Archaic to take vengeance for. (Old English wrecan; related to Old Frisian wreka, Old High German rehhan (German rächen), Old Norse reka, Latin urgere to push) ♦ wreaker n. See at wrought.
