\Wrest\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wrested}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Wresting}.] [OE. wresten, AS. wr?stan; akin to wr?? a
twisted band, and wr[=i]?n to twist. See {Writhe}.]
1. To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence;
   to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or
   twisting. ``The secret wrested from me.'' --Milton.
         Our country's cause, That drew our swords, now
         secret wrests them from our hand.     --Addison.
         They instantly wrested the government out of the
         hands of Hastings.                    --Macaulay.
2. To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper
   use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort.
         Wrest once the law to your authority. --Shak.
         Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor. --Ex.
                                               xxiii. 6.
         Their arts of wresting, corrupting, and false
         interpreting the holy text.           --South.
3. To tune with a wrest, or key. [Obs.]

\Wrest\, n.
1. The act of wresting; a wrench; a violent twist; hence,
   distortion; perversion. --Hooker.
2. Active or moving power. [Obs.] --Spenser.
3. A key to tune a stringed instrument of music.
         The minstrel . . . wore round his neck a silver
         chain, by which hung the wrest, or key, with which
         he tuned his harp.                    --Sir W.
                                               Scott.
4. A partition in a water wheel, by which the form of the
   buckets is determined.
{Wrest pin} (Piano Manuf.), one of the pins around which the
   ends of the wires are wound in a piano. --Knight.
{Wrest plank} (Piano Manuf.), the part in which the wrest
   pins are inserted.