Spanner in Britain, Wrench in America
A wrench turns nuts and bolts. The word means to twist, and it is one of the clearest tool-name splits between British and American English.
To wrench is to twist sharply, and a wrench is a tool for turning nuts. The tool has different names on each side of the Atlantic: Britain says *spanner*, from a German word for a tightening device, and America says *wrench*, from the twisting verb. The idiom follows the tool: Britain throws a spanner in the works, America throws a monkey wrench.
- To twist sharply. *He wrenched the lid off.*
- A turning tool (American). *An adjustable wrench.*
- A painful separation. *Leaving was a wrench.*
- Spanner — the British word. *Pass me a spanner.*
- Monkey wrench — an adjustable wrench. *A monkey wrench in the works.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | wrench | Wrench it free. |
| Past | wrenched | He wrenched his knee. |
| Noun | wrench | A heavy wrench. |
| British | spanner | A ring spanner. |
| Adjective | wrenching | A wrenching decision. |
- He wrenched his shoulder lifting the box.Injury.
- Saying goodbye was a real wrench.Emotional.
- That threw a spanner in the works.British idiom.
Tool names that differ
- Spanner and wrench — the same tool
- Torch and flashlight
- Bonnet and hood; boot and trunk
- Plaster and Band-Aid
- Spirit level and level
Old English *wrencan*, to twist, from the same wr- family as *writhe* and *wring*. The tool sense is recorded from the 1700s.
Is a spanner the same as a wrench?
Essentially yes. Spanner is British, wrench American. Some specific tools have their own names in both varieties.
Where does throw a spanner in the works come from?
From industrial machinery, where a dropped tool would jam the mechanism. The American version uses a monkey wrench.