wrencan

Wrencan in Old English meant to twist, to turn, to wrench. The word described a physical action: wrenching your arm free from a grip, wrenching a door open, wrenching your ankle. The tool came later — named for the twisting motion required to use it. A wrench is what you twist with. The human body was wrenching before the tool existed.

The adjustable wrench was patented in 1842 by Edwin Beard Budding in England, though earlier versions existed. The Swedes developed their own variant — the Swedish adjustable wrench, often called a 'Swedish key' (Svensknyckel). In America, the adjustable wrench is sometimes called a Crescent wrench, after the Crescent Tool Company of Jamestown, New York, which began manufacturing them in 1907. The brand name became generic, as it does.

The phrase 'to throw a wrench in the works' (American) or 'to throw a spanner in the works' (British) dates to the early twentieth century. The image is sabotage: dropping a metal tool into machinery to jam the gears. Whether this actually happened in factories is debated. The metaphor stuck regardless. A wrench in the works is anything that disrupts a plan.

The emotional meaning — a wrenching departure, a gut-wrenching scene — preserves the Old English physical sensation. To be wrenched is to be twisted painfully. The tool, the action, the emotion, and the sabotage metaphor all share the same twist. Old English wrencan is still working.