wreck·er
(rĕk′ər)n.1. One that wrecks or destroys: a wrecker of dreams.
2. a. One who is in the business of demolishing old buildings.
b. One who dismantles cars for salvage.
3. A tow truck used to move disabled or wrecked vehicles.
4. One who lures a vessel to destruction, as by a display of lights on a rocky coastline, in order to plunder it.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
wrecker
(ˈrɛkə) n1. a person or thing that ruins or destroys
2. (Building) chiefly US and Canadian a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars
3. (Automotive Engineering) chiefly US and Canadian a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars
4. (Nautical Terms) (formerly) a person who lures ships to destruction to plunder the wreckage
5. (Automotive Engineering)
US and Canadian another word for
tow truck Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
wreck•er
(ˈrɛk ər)
n. 1. a person or thing that wrecks.
2. a person, car, or train employed in removing wreckage, debris, etc., as from railroad tracks.
3. Also called
tow car ,
tow truck. a vehicle equipped with a mechanical apparatus for hoisting and pulling, used to tow wrecked, disabled, or stalled automobiles.
4. a person or business that demolishes and removes houses or other buildings, as in clearing sites for other use.
5. a person or vessel employed in recovering salvage from wrecked or disabled vessels.
6. a person who plunders wrecks, esp. after exhibiting false signals in order to cause shipwrecks.
[1795–1805]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.