wedge

== English == === Pronunciation === (UK, US) IPA(key): /wɛd͡ʒ/ Hyphenation: wedge Rhymes: -ɛdʒ === Etymology 1 === From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz. ==== Noun ==== wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges) 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. (figurative) Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things. Near-synonyms: wedge issue, salami tactics, culture wars drive a wedge between [persons, peoples, camps, allies, etc.] (geometry) A five-sided polyhedron with a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends. (architecture) A voussoir, one of the wedge-shaped blocks forming an arch or vault. (archaic) A flank of cavalry acting to split some portion of an opposing army, charging in an inverted V formation. (zoology, collective) A group of geese, swans, or other birds when they are in flight in a V formation. (golf) A type of iron club used for short, high trajectories. One of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes. (obsolete) An ingot. (obsolete, slang, uncountable, by extension) Silver or items made of silver collectively. (colloquial, UK, countable, uncountable, by extension) A quantity of money. (US, regional, especially Westchester, New York) A sandwich made on a long, cylindrical roll. Synonyms: hero sandwich; more at submarine sandwich One of the basic elements that make up cuneiform writing, a single triangular impression made with the corner of a reed stylus. Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation. (typography, US) A háček. (phonetics) The IPA character ʌ, which denotes an open-mid back unrounded vowel. (mathematics) The symbol ∧, denoting a meet (infimum) operation or logical conjunction. (music) A hairpin, an elongated horizontal V-shaped sign indicating a crescendo or decrescendo. (meteorology) A barometric ridge; an elongated region of high atmospheric pressure between two low-pressure areas. (meteorology) A wedge tornado. (finance) 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). ===== Synonyms ===== (group of geese): skein (phonetics: IPA character ⟨ʌ⟩): turned v ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== wedge (third-person singular simple present wedges, present participle wedging, simple past and past participle wedged) (transitive) To support or secure using a wedge. (ambitransitive) To force into a narrow gap. (transitive) To pack (people or animals) together tightly into a mass. (transitive) To work wet clay by cutting or kneading for the purpose of homogenizing the mass and expelling air bubbles. (computing, informal, intransitive) Of a computer program or system: to get stuck in an unresponsive state. (transitive) To cleave with a wedge. (transitive) To force or drive with a wedge. (transitive) To shape into a wedge. ===== Derived terms ===== wedge up ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Wedgewood, surname of the person who occupied this position on the first list of 1828. ==== Noun ==== wedge (plural wedges) (UK, Cambridge University slang) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos. ===== Synonyms ===== wooden wedge ===== See also ===== wooden spoon == French == === Etymology === English wedge. === Pronunciation === === Noun === wedge m (plural wedges) (golf) wedge