wrist

Pluralwrists

Formswrists, wristing, wristed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The joint connecting the hand to the forearm, formed by the carpal bones lying between the forearm and the bones of the hand.

   The gymnast landed awkwardly and fractured her wrist.

   Repetitive typing can cause lasting pain in the wrist.

   Note

   The joint takes its name from turning. Old English wrist goes back to a Germanic verb meaning "to twist, turn," the same source as writhe. Its relatives have moved around the body: German Rist names the back of the hand, the instep, even a horse's withers. Anatomists sometimes narrow the word to the carpus, the small bones themselves, while everyday English keeps the twisting idea in a flick of the wrist.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   In ice hockey, to shoot the puck with a wrist shot: a quick snap of the lower arm and stick rather than a full windup.

   She wristed a quick shot into the top corner.

   Players who wrist the puck accurately can score from awkward angles.

   Similarflick, snap

   Note

   Hockey turns the noun into a verb with regular endings: wrists, wristing, wristed. The verb usually takes the puck or the shot as its object, as in wristed a shot or wrist the puck. It names the shot after the joint that does the work, echoing the old sense of twisting behind the anatomical word. A wrist shot is a quick snap rather than a big windup.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   In machinery, a stud or pin that serves as a journal: the member that rotates within a bearing.

   The connecting rod pivots on a hardened steel wrist that runs in a bronze bearing.

   Wear on the wrist eventually caused noticeable play in the linkage.

   Similarpin, journal

   Note

   Machinery reuses the word from the body's joint, with the same Old English origin. A stud or pin that another part turns on is a fitting "wrist" for a mechanism. In a workshop it is plain hardware vocabulary, and the surrounding talk of bearings, pins and linkages makes clear which wrist is meant.

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