different between wreck vs harm

English

Etymology

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak), from Proto-Germanic *wrekan?, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic ???????????????????????? (wrikan).

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?k, IPA^(key): /???k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Noun

wreck (plural wrecks)

1. Something or someone that has been ruined.

   He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.

   Synonym: basket case, mess

2. The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
   • 1779, William Cowper, Retirement

     To the fair haven of my native home, / The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come.

3. An event in which something is damaged through collision.

   • the wrecks of matter and the crush of worlds

   • Hard and obstinate / As is a rock amidst the raging floods, / 'Gainst which a ship, of succour desolate, / Doth suffer wreck, both of herself and goods.

   • 1883, John Richard Green, The Conquest of England

     Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life.

4. (law) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bouvier to this entry?)

Synonyms

• crash
• ruins

Derived terms

• catch wreck
• shipwreck
• train wreck

Translations

Verb

wreck (third-person singular simple present wrecks, present participle wrecking, simple past and past participle wrecked)

1. To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.

   He wrecked the car in a collision.

   That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!

2. To ruin or dilapidate.
3. (Australia) To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts.
4. To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.

   • Weak and envy'd, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves, and he hath his Desire.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:destroy

Antonyms

• build
• construct
• make
• produce

Derived terms

• bewreck
• wrecker
• wreckage

Translations

References

Yola

Noun

wreck

1. Alternative form of rocke

English

Etymology

From Middle English harm, herm, from Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm, from Proto-Germanic *harmaz (“harm; shame; pain”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /h??m/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h??m/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m

Noun

harm (countable and uncountable, plural harms)

1. physical injury; hurt; damage

2. emotional or figurative hurt
3. detriment; misfortune.

4. That which causes injury, damage, or loss.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, lasting, material, substantial.

Translations

Verb

harm (third-person singular simple present harms, present participle harming, simple past and past participle harmed)

1. To cause injury to another; to hurt; to cause damage to something.

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Hmar, mahr

Icelandic

Noun

harm

1. indefinite accusative singular of harmur

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ha???m?/

Noun

harm

1. h-prothesized form of arm

Middle English

Alternative forms

• harem, arme, herme

Etymology

From Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm.

Noun

harm (plural harms)

1. harm, injury, ruination

Descendants

• English: harm
• Scots: herm, hairm
• Yola: harrm

References

• “harm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.

Noun

harm m

1. harm

Descendants

• Middle Low German: harm, herm