Dictionary

wedge en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /wɛd͡ʒ/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering.
   • Stick a wedge under the door, will you? It keeps blowing shut.
2. (countable, uncountable) One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering. ▸ A piece (of food, metal, wood etc.) having this shape.
   • Can you cut me a wedge of cheese?
   • We ordered a box of baked potato wedges with our pizza, and an iceberg wedge as our side salad.
3. (countable, uncountable) One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering. ▸ A five-sided polyhedron with a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends.
4. (countable, uncountable) One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering. ▸ A voussoir, one of the wedge-shaped blocks forming an arch or vault.
5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things.
   • drive a wedge between [persons, peoples, camps, allies, etc.]
   • It is one of the ironies of capital cities that each acts as a symbol of its nation, and yet few are even remotely representative of it. London has always set itself apart from the rest of Britain — but political, economic and social trends are conspiring to drive that wedge deeper. 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
   • Near-synonyms: wedge issue, salami tactics, culture wars
6. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things. ▸ A type of iron club used for short, high trajectories; a shot made with such a club.
7. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things. ▸ One of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes, which lift the heel of the foot from the ground.
   • She was wearing wedges, and I have a horrible suspicion they were her mum's wedges left over from the last century. 2010, Sue Limb, Girls, Guilty But Somehow Glorious:
8. (US, countable, uncountable) Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. ▸ A háček.
   • The tilde and the circumflex have a place in the ASCII scheme but the wedge and the umlaut do not. 1996, Geoffrey Keith Pullum, William A. Ladusaw, Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition, page xxvi:
   • The háček or ‘wedge’ ⟨ˇ⟩ is a diacritic commonly used in Slavic orthographies. […] As a tone mark the wedge is used iconically for a falling-rising tone as in Chinese Pinyin. 1999, Florian Coulmas, “háček”, in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, page 193:
   • The wedge is used in Czech and is illustrated by the Czech name for the diacritic, haček. 1982, Thomas Pyles, John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 3rd edition, page 49:
9. (countable, uncountable) Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. ▸ The IPA character ʌ, which denotes an open-mid back unrounded vowel.
   • Turned V is referred to as “Wedge” by some phoneticians, but this seems inadvisable to us, because the haček accent (ˇ) is also called that in names like Wedge C for (č). 1996, Geoffrey Keith Pullum, William A. Ladusaw, Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition, page 19:
10. (countable, uncountable) Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. ▸ The symbol ∧, denoting a meet (infimum) operation or logical conjunction.
11. (countable, uncountable) Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. ▸ A hairpin, an elongated horizontal V-shaped sign indicating a crescendo or decrescendo.
12. (countable, uncountable) Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. ▸ One of the basic elements that make up cuneiform writing, a single triangular impression made with the corner of a reed stylus.
13. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) An ingot.
    • Open the Males, yet guard the treaſure ſure. Lay out our golden wedges to the view, That their reflexions may amaze the Perſeans. c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
14. (broadly, obsolete, slang, uncountable) An ingot. ▸ Silver or items made of silver collectively.
15. (UK, broadly, colloquial, countable, obsolete, uncountable) An ingot. ▸ A quantity of money.
    • He's got some decent wedge.
    • I made a big fat wedge from that job.
16. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Things shaped like a V ▸ A flank of cavalry acting to split some portion of an opposing army, charging in an inverted V formation.
17. (collective, countable, uncountable) Things shaped like a V ▸ A group of cranes, ducks, geese, gulls, pelicans, swans or other birds when they are in flight in a V formation.
    • A screaming wedge of birds wheeled above me, then winged off across the darkening water 1991, William F. Nolan, “Dark Bedfellows: The Horrors in My Life”, in Weird Tales 302, number Fall 1991, page 14:
    • The girl stopped short off and searched the sky for a wedge of geese. 1924, George Marsh, The Valley of Voices, Hodder and Stoughton, page 351:
    • One day while on the sandy plain near the coast, my attention was attracted by a flock of about twenty very large birds, in the form of a wedge flying in the direction of the lagoon which separates the two parts of the island. 1903, Austin Hobart Clark, Notes on the Habits of Certain Venezuelan Birds, page 292:
18. (countable, uncountable) Things shaped like a V ▸ A wedge tornado.
19. (countable, uncountable) Phenomena that, when charted, result in a V shape ▸ A barometric ridge; an elongated region of high atmospheric pressure between two low-pressure areas.
20. (countable, uncountable) Phenomena that, when charted, result in a V shape ▸ A market trend characterized by a contracting range in prices coupled with an upward trend in prices (a rising wedge) or a downward trend in prices (a falling wedge).
21. (New-York, US, countable, qualifier:especially Westchester, regional, uncountable) A sandwich made on a long, cylindrical roll.
    • She hoped it wasn't a meatball wedge, because there's so much garlic in school meatballs that it might make my breath smell and knock the agent out of his chair. 1983, Marlene Fanta Shyer, Adorable Sunday, Scholastic:
    • I ordered a chicken parm wedge from the deli.
    • Most people realize there are a lot of different names for that type of sandwich, so Scalone wondered what was so funny about wedge? 2019 October 10, Mark Lungariello, “It's called a wedge in Westchester: Not a hoagie, sub or a grinder”, in The Journal News:

Forms

Deriveds

approach wedge · accretionary wedge · wedgelike · salt wedge · wedge salad · drive a wedge · pitching wedge · flying wedge · wedge-shaped · wedge gauge · wedge gear · lob wedge · cross-wedge · wedge pea · thin end of the wedge · wedge tomb · hand wedge · fox wedge · wedge shell · wedge of circles · shoe wedge · wedge politics · Sikkim wedge-billed babbler · substorm current wedge · Texas wedge · gap wedge · thin edge of the wedge · wedge-tailed eagle · wedge-and-dash · sand wedge · drive a wedge between · potato wedge · tax wedge · ice wedge · wedge-feeder · wedge sum · small end of the wedge · wedge product · edge-of-the-wedge theorem · wedge gage · wedge prism · spherical wedge · wedge-writing · wedge issue

Synonyms

more at submarine sandwich · turned v · culture war · skein (group of geese) · culture war · wedge issue · salami tactics · chevron · wedge issue · salami tactics · wedge issue · salami tactics · culture war · hero sandwich

Translations (188)

fa-ira گُوِه (simple machine) · sv kilklackssko (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes) · scn zòcculi (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes) · scn cuniunziuni lòggica (mathematics: the symbol ∧) · is wedgi (type of golf club) · is kastjárn (type of golf club) · is sandjárn (type of golf club) · pl kawałek (piece of food etc.) · be клін (simple machine) · nv bee ałkʼíniilkaałí (simple machine) · fi kiila (figurative: something that creates a division) · enm wegge (simple machine) · cmn 楔體 /楔体 (geometry: type of five-sided polyhedron) · de Keil (geometry: type of five-sided polyhedron) · ru клин (group of birds flying in V formation) · es zapato de cuña (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes) · uz pona (simple machine) · oc cunh (simple machine) · sv wedge (type of golf club) · hi वैज (simple machine) · sk klin (simple machine) · pt fatia (piece of food etc.) · bg клин (simple machine) · ru кусо́к (piece of food etc.) · el σμήνος (flank of cavalry) · qu ananinami (group of birds flying in V formation) · sl klin (simple machine) · mi mākahi (simple machine) · cy lletem (simple machine) · ca tascó (simple machine) · vec tòco (piece of food etc.) · hu ék (figurative: something that creates a division) · fr part (piece of food etc.) · pt cunha (simple machine) · hi कील (simple machine) · tr kama (simple machine) · fi massi (colloquial: quantity of money) · de Keil (simple machine) · scn cugnu (mathematics: the symbol ∧) · my သပ် (simple machine) · es cuña (geometry: type of five-sided polyhedron) · tk pahna (simple machine) · lmo qignœl (simple machine) · ca tascó (piece of food etc.) · ky казык (simple machine) · nl spie (simple machine) · it cuneo (simple machine) · mi tahatiti (simple machine) · is fleygur (simple machine) · ota طاقوز (simple machine) · cmn 楔 (simple machine) · fr quartier (piece of food etc.) · fr coin (simple machine) · hu ék (simple machine) · fi kiilakorkokenkä (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes) · ro conjuncție logică (mathematics: the symbol ∧) · fi kolmio (piece of food etc.) · ka სოლი (simple machine) · ar وَتِد (simple machine) · scn pila (colloquial: quantity of money) · az paz (simple machine) · th ลิ่ม (simple machine) · xal шаанцг (simple machine) · sh krȉška (piece of food etc.) · it formazione a cuneo di oche (group of birds flying in V formation) · nl wig (simple machine) · it zeppa (simple machine) · fi konjunktio (mathematics: the symbol ∧) · ja 一切れ (piece of food etc.) · oc conh (simple machine) · it ferro da alzo (type of golf club) · sh klȉn (simple machine) · pl klin (simple machine) · ca part (piece of food etc.) · kk танап (simple machine) · ko 쐐기 (simple machine) · de Stück (piece of food etc.) · gl grillo (simple machine) · scn cugnu (phonetics: IPA character ʌ) · sh кли̏н (simple machine) · ro pană (simple machine) · he טְרִיז (simple machine) · ga ding (simple machine) · el σφήνα (simple machine) · gl calzo (for levelling) (simple machine) · it bietta (simple machine) · cu клинъ (simple machine) · km បន្លួញ (simple machine) · ang weċġ (simple machine) · lo ຫລິ້ນ (simple machine) · pl klucz (group of birds flying in V formation) · bg клин (piece of food etc.) · vec tòch (piece of food etc.) · ro cârd (group of birds flying in V formation) · ar إِسْفِين (simple machine) · fi wedge (type of golf club) · sv plog (group of birds flying in V formation) · izh klina (simple machine) · fr cale (type of golf club) · cs klín (simple machine) · hy սեպ (simple machine) · ba шына (simple machine) · sv kil (flank of cavalry) · es bandada formada en V (group of birds flying in V formation) · uk клин (simple machine) · kl quppaqut (simple machine) · ca falca (simple machine) · pt sapato anabela (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes) · es cuña (simple machine) · et kiil (simple machine) · pdt Kjiel (simple machine) · scn cugnu (figurative: something that creates a division) · fi kiila (simple machine) · de Wedge (type of golf club) · bn কীল (simple machine) · da kile (simple machine) · nb kile (simple machine) · eo kojno (simple machine) · vi nêm (simple machine) · scn feḍḍa (piece of food etc.) · hsb klin (simple machine) · it spicchio (piece of food etc.) · fi aura (group of birds flying in V formation) · arz سفين (simple machine) · ar وَتَد (simple machine) · ja 楔 (simple machine) · nl vendel (group of birds flying in V formation) · alt казык (simple machine) · bg разцепле́ние (figurative: something that creates a division) · fi kiila (geometry: type of five-sided polyhedron) · orv клинъ (simple machine) · mk клин (simple machine) · is kíll (simple machine) · la cuneus (simple machine) · tk şinde (simple machine) · lv ķīlis (simple machine) · tt чөй (simple machine) · scn munzeḍḍu (colloquial: quantity of money) · fr morceau (piece of food etc.) · dsb klin (simple machine) · sv kil (simple machine) · tr takoz (simple machine) · fi kiila (flank of cavalry) · it anatre (group of birds flying in V formation) · lld tòch (piece of food etc.) · mn шаантаг (simple machine) · fi paalu (colloquial: quantity of money) · ca wedge (type of golf club) · ky шынаа (simple machine) · lo ສາກ (simple machine) · vi chêm (simple machine) · scn pezzu (piece of food etc.) · el σμήνος (group of birds flying in V formation) · cmn 楔子 (simple machine) · sh кри̏шка (piece of food etc.) · kk сына (simple machine) · tg биғоз (simple machine) · vec cogn (simple machine) · vec toco (piece of food etc.) · ca quart (piece of food etc.) · it fermaporta (doorstop) (simple machine) · non veggr (simple machine) · fi kiila (piece of food etc.) · ms baji (simple machine) · lt vagis (simple machine) · ru клин (simple machine) · mi kahi (simple machine) · es formación en cuña (flank of cavalry) · scn cugnu (simple machine) · sq pykë (simple machine) · tg фона (simple machine) · ur کِیل (simple machine) · es formación en V (flank of cavalry) · es rebanada triangular (piece of food etc.) · yi קייַל (simple machine) · ca tros (piece of food etc.) · it cuneo (figurative: something that creates a division) · goh weggi (simple machine) · ug پانا (simple machine) · ro felie (piece of food etc.) · sv bit (piece of food etc.) · ota قامه (simple machine) · it cigni (group of birds flying in V formation) · gl cuña (simple machine) · fi ja (mathematics: the symbol ∧) · fr cale (simple machine) · grc σφήν (simple machine) · mi matakahi (simple machine)

wikidata: Q776904 · wikidata: Q131408 · wikidata: Q131408 · wikidata: Q131408 · wikidata: Q131408

wedge en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /wɛd͡ʒ/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To support or secure using a wedge.
   • I wedged open the window with a screwdriver.
   • "Did he take his bottle well?" Mrs. Flanders whispered, and Rebecca nodded and went to the cot and turned down the quilt, and Mrs. Flanders bent over and looked anxiously at the baby, asleep, but frowning. The window shook, and Rebecca stole like a cat and wedged it. 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:
2. (ambitransitive) To force into a narrow gap.
   • I wedged into the alcove and listened carefully.
   • During [Tucker] Carlson’s keynote, he wedged sneers at his critics for crying “racist!” in between racist remarks about [Ilhan] Omar, jeremiads against the media (“I know there’s a bunch of reporters here, so . . . screw you”), and an attack on Elizabeth Warren and her donors (“She’s a tragedy, because she’s now obsessed with racism, which is why the finance world supports her”)—all to gleeful applause. 2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents:
   • He had wedged the package between the wall and the back of the sofa.
3. (transitive) To pack (people or animals) together tightly into a mass.
4. (transitive) To work wet clay by cutting or kneading for the purpose of homogenizing the mass and expelling air bubbles.
5. (informal, intransitive) Of a computer program or system: to get stuck in an unresponsive state.
   • My Linux kernel wedged after I installed the latest update.
6. (transitive) To cleave with a wedge.
7. (transitive) To force or drive with a wedge.
8. (transitive) To shape into a wedge.

Forms

Deriveds

wedge up

Synonyms

scotch

Translations (38)

bg заклинвам (to support or secure using a wedge) · sv kila (to support or secure using a wedge) · fr caler (to support or secure using a wedge) · ota قامهلامق (to support or secure using a wedge) · it incuneare (to support or secure using a wedge) · es acuñar (to force into a narrow gap) · gl calzar (to support or secure using a wedge) · it conficcare (to force into a narrow gap) · it incuneare (to force into a narrow gap) · it imbiettare (to support or secure using a wedge) · ota قامهلامق (to force into a narrow gap) · bg вбивам (to force into a narrow gap) · fr coincer (to force into a narrow gap) · fi kiilata (to support or secure using a wedge) · it rincalzare (to support or secure using a wedge) · pt enfiar (to force into a narrow gap) · ca falcar (to support or secure using a wedge) · es calzar (to support or secure using a wedge) · izh klinata (to support or secure using a wedge) · gl acuñar (to support or secure using a wedge) · pt socar (to force into a narrow gap) · ru расклинивать (to support or secure using a wedge) · sv kila fast (to force into a narrow gap) · tr sıkıştırmak (to force into a narrow gap) · tr tıkmak (to force into a narrow gap) · gl tillar (to support or secure using a wedge) · pt atochar (to force into a narrow gap) · de einkeilen (to force into a narrow gap) · fi kiilata (to force into a narrow gap) · eo kojni (to support or secure using a wedge) · ru вклинивать (to force into a narrow gap) · ru втискивать (to force into a narrow gap) · fr caler (to force into a narrow gap) · de klemmen (to force into a narrow gap) · it incastrare (to force into a narrow gap) · it infilare (to force into a narrow gap) · sv kila in (to force into a narrow gap) · es acuñar (to support or secure using a wedge)

wedge en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /wɛd͡ʒ/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From Wedgewood, surname of the person who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.

Meanings

1. (UK, qualifier:Cambridge University slang) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos.
   • The last man is called the Wedge, corresponding to the Spoon in Mathematics. 1873, Charles Astor Bristed, Five Years in an English University:

Forms

Relateds

wooden spoon

Synonyms

wooden wedge