- wreck
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 of a shipVERB + WRECK▪ discover, find, locate▪
Divers were sent down to try and locate the wreck.
▪ explore▪ raise, salvage▪They're going to try and raise the wreck from the sea bed.
▪ salvage sth fromPREPOSITION▪ in a/the wreck▪They are worried about the oil still in the wreck.
▪ on a/the wreck▪Heavy seas prevented salvage teams from landing on the wreck.
▪ wreck of▪the wreck of the Titanic
2 of a car/planeADJECTIVE▪ total▪ crumpled▪ blazing, burning▪Explosions ripped through the blazing wreck.
VERB + WRECK▪ be trapped in▪Two passengers are still trapped in the wreck.
▪ escape, escape from3 (esp. AmE) accidentADJECTIVE▪ car, trainVERB + WRECK▪ cause▪ survivePHRASES▪ like watching a car wreck, like watching a train wreck▪His attempts at damage control are like watching a car wreck.
▪ a train wreck waiting to happen (= is likely to be a disaster)▪The campaign is a train wreck waiting to happen.
4 of a personADJECTIVE▪ absolute, complete, total▪ emotional, nervous▪The interview reduced him to a nervous wreck.
▪ gibbering, quivering▪I always turn into a gibbering wreck at interviews.
▪ physicalVERB + WRECK▪ feel, look (both esp. BrE)▪I hadn't slept for two days, and I felt a complete physical wreck.
▪ reduce sb to (esp. BrE){{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}verbADVERB▪ completely, totally▪A bomb completely wrecked the building.
▪ almost, nearly▪ effectively (esp. BrE)VERB + WRECK▪ try to, want to▪ threaten to▪a crisis that threatens to wreck the peace talks
Wreck is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑vandal
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
