wrecker

[rek-er] /ˈrɛk ər/
noun
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.
Also called housewrecker. a person whose business it is to demolish and remove 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, especially after exhibiting false signals in order to cause shipwrecks.
Origin
1795-1805; wreck + -er1
Examples from the web for wrecker
  • Working under extreme pressure is another writing wrecker.
  • For an astronaut in a bulky spacesuit, exposed to the harsh lunar environment, it could be a mission wrecker-or worse.
  • Basically saying he's a head-in-the-mud wrecker of human progress, well, that's decidedly a bit much.
  • Camilla, vilified as a marriage wrecker, retreats from public view.
  • Take picture of big wrecker pulling up two battered vehicles.
  • Such parts may not be removed if they will be accepted by a scrap processor or wrecker.
  • He said a lot of the franchise wrecker lots have to complete state mandated paperwork.
British Dictionary definitions for wrecker

wrecker

/ˈrɛkə/
noun
1.
a person or thing that ruins or destroys
2.
(mainly US & Canadian) a person whose job is to demolish buildings or dismantle cars
3.
(formerly) a person who lures ships to destruction to plunder the wreckage
4.
(US & Canadian) another word for tow truck
Word Origin and History for wrecker
n.

1804, in reference to those who salvage cargos from wrecked ships, from wreck (n.). In Britain often with a overtones of "one who causes a shipwreck in order to plunder it" (1820); but in 19c. Bahamas and the Florida Keys it could be a legal occupation. Applied to those who wreck and plunder institutions from 1882. Meaning "demolition worker" attested by 1958. As a type of ship employed in salvage operations, from 1789. As a railway vehicle with a crane or hoist, from 1904.