Word.ws English Dictionary

throw a wrench in the gears

throw a wrench in the gears verb: synonym of throw a spanner in the works.

Verb

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

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

Synonyms of throw a wrench in the gears

Forms of throw a wrench in the gears

third-person singular presentthrows a wrench in the gears
present participlethrowing a wrench in the gears
pastthrew a wrench in the gears
past participlethrown a wrench in the gears
alternative formthrow a wrench into the works

Questions about throw a wrench in the gears

What does throw a wrench in the gears mean?
Throw a wrench in the gears means synonym of throw a spanner in the works.
What part of speech is throw a wrench in the gears?
Throw a wrench in the gears is a verb.
What is the past tense of throw a wrench in the gears?
The past tense of throw a wrench in the gears is threw a wrench in the gears.

Words near throw a wrench in the gears in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw a wrench in the gears (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.

Last updated:

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