Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WRECK, n. [Dan. vrag, a wreck, shipwreck; Sw. vrak, refuse; Sax. wræc, wræcca, an exile, a wretch; D. wrak, broken, a wreck. This word signifies properly that which is cast, driven or dashed, or that which is broken.]

1. Destruction; properly, the destruction of a ship or vessel on the shore. Hence,
2. The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land and broken, or otherwise rendered useless by violence and fracture.
3. Dissolution by violence; ruin; destruction. The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds. – Addison.
4. The remains of any thing ruined; dead weeds and grass.
5. In metallurgy, the vessel in which ores are washed the third time.
6. Wreck for Wreak, is less proper. [See also Rack.]