WEDGES
Proper noun
Wedges
plural of Wedge
Anagrams
• swedge
Noun
wedges
plural of wedge
Verb
wedges
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of wedge
Anagrams
• swedge
Source: Wiktionary
WEDGE
Wedge, n. Etym: [OE. wegge, AS. wecg; akin to D. wig, wigge, OHG.
wecki, G. weck a (wedge-shaped) loaf, Icel. veggr, Dan. vægge, 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.)
Definition: 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.
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)
Definition: To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing
together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Tomlinson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition