Word.ws English Dictionary

threw a wrench in the works

threw a wrench in the works is the simple past of throw a wrench in the works.

Meaning of throw a wrench in the works

Verb

throw a wrench in the works (third-person singular simple present throws a wrench in the works, present participle throwing a wrench in the works, simple past threw a wrench in the works, past participle thrown a wrench in the works)

  1. (US, idiomatic) Synonym of throw a spanner in the works.

Questions about threw a wrench in the works

What is threw a wrench in the works the simple past of?
Threw a wrench in the works is the simple past of throw a wrench in the works.

Words near threw a wrench in the works in the dictionary

  1. threw a tantrum
  2. threw a wet blanket on
  3. threw a wobbly
  4. threw a wrench in
  5. threw a wrench in the gears
  6. threw a wrench in the works
  7. threw a wrench into the works
  8. threw about
  9. threw an ant into a sty
  10. threw an eye
  11. threw aside

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: threw a wrench in the works (page history and authors); throw a wrench in the works (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “threw a wrench in the works.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/threw_a_wrench_in_the_works. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.