wreak
verb /riːk/
/riːk/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they wreak | /riːk/ /riːk/ |
| he / she / it wreaks | /riːks/ /riːks/ |
| past simple wreaked | /riːkt/ /riːkt/ |
| past participle wreaked | /riːkt/ /riːkt/ |
| -ing form wreaking | /ˈriːkɪŋ/ /ˈriːkɪŋ/ |
- wreak something (on somebody/something) to do great damage or harm to somebody/something
- Their policies would wreak havoc on the economy.
- He swore to wreak vengeance on those who had betrayed him.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryWreak is used with these nouns as the object:- destruction
- devastation
- havoc
- …
Word OriginOld English wrecan ‘drive (out), avenge’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wreken and German rächen; compare with wreck, and wretch.