wreck
part of speech
noun (a wreck, wrecks); verb (wreck, wrecks, wrecked, wrecking)
meaning for a pupil
1) A ship, car, plane or building that has been badly damaged or destroyed. tree →
2) (verb) To damage or destroy something badly. tree →
3) (verb) To spoil plans or chances: «The rain wrecked our picnic.» tree →
4) (informal) A person who is very tired, ill or upset: «I'm a wreck.» tree →
sense in the lessons
In history and stories: shipwrecks, divers exploring a wreck. In everyday life: «The kids wrecked the room» means made a big mess. In safety: never play near a car wreck or old building. Phrases: «a nervous wreck», «shipwreck».
examples
- Divers explored the wreck of the old ship. tree →
- The storm wrecked the garden fence. tree →
- Don't wreck your sister's sandcastle! tree →
- Rain wrecked our plans for a barbecue. tree →
- After the long journey, I was a total wreck. tree →
- The car was a wreck after the crash, but everyone was safe. tree →
- "It is a chest of gold lost from some wreck," they cried. tree →
note
Silent w: say «rek». Regular verb: wrecked. Do not confuse with «reck» (old word) or «wreak» (as in «wreak havoc»). Wreckage = the broken pieces left.
In the corpora
- A diary is private; using a secret found by snooping to embarrass someone can wreck trust for a long time.
- In Houston, Aaliyah's little sisters wreck her slime collection.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wreck» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.