Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Wedge"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Wedge \Wedge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wedged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Wedging}.]
1. To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a
wedge; to rive. ``My heart, as wedged with a sigh, would
rive in twain.'' --Shak.

2. To force or drive as a wedge is driven.

Among the crowd in the abbey where a finger Could
not be wedged in more. --Shak.

He 's just the sort of man to wedge himself into a
snug berth. --Mrs. J. H.
Ewing.

3. To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to
wedge one's way. --Milton.

4. To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a
wedge that is driven into something.

Wedged in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast.
--Dryden.

5. To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a
scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber
in its place.

6. (Pottery) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work
by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc.
--Tomlinson.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Wedge \Wedge\, n. [OE. wegge, AS. wecg; akin to D. wig, wigge,
OHG. wecki, G. weck a (wedge-shaped) loaf, Icel. veggr, Dan.
v[ae]gge, Sw. vigg, and probably to Lith. vagis a peg. Cf.
{Wigg}.]
1. A piece of metal, or other hard material, thick at one
end, and tapering to a thin edge at the other, used in
splitting wood, rocks, etc., in raising heavy bodies, and
the like. It is one of the six elementary machines called
the mechanical powers. See Illust. of {Mechanical powers},
under {Mechanical}.

2. (Geom.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base,
two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge,
and two triangular ends.

3. A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form.
``Wedges of gold.'' --Shak.

4. Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn
up in such a form.

In warlike muster they appear, In rhombs, and
wedges, and half-moons, and wings. --Milton.

5. The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the
classical tripos; -- so called after a person (Wedgewood)
who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.
[Cant, Cambridge Univ., Eng.] --C. A. Bristed.

{Fox wedge}. (Mach. & Carpentry) See under {Fox}.

{Spherical wedge} (Geom.), the portion of a sphere included
between two planes which intersect in a diameter.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

wedge
n 1: any shape that is triangular in cross section [syn: {wedge
shape}, {cuneus}]
2: a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise
and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and
lettuce and condiments); different names are used in
different sections of the United States [syn: {bomber}, {grinder},
{hero}, {hero sandwich}, {hoagie}, {hoagy}, {Cuban
sandwich}, {Italian sandwich}, {poor boy}, {sub}, {submarine},
{submarine sandwich}, {torpedo}, {zep}]
3: a diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above
certain letters (such as c) to indicate pronunciation
[syn: {hacek}]
4: a heel that is an extension of the sole of the shoe [syn: {wedge
heel}]
5: an iron with considerable loft and a broad sole
6: something usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that
can be pushed between two things to separate them
7: a block of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a
heavy object [syn: {chock}]
v 1: fix, force, or implant; "lodge a bullet in the table" [syn:
{lodge}, {stick}, {deposit}] [ant: {dislodge}]
2: squeeze like a wedge into a tight space; "I squeezed myself
into the corner" [syn: {squeeze}, {force}]


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