wedgen.
/wɛdʒ/, U.S. /wɛdʒ/ 1.
a. A piece of wood, metal, or other hard material, thick at one end and tapering to a thin edge at the other; chiefly used as a tool operated by percussion (or, less frequently, pressure) applied to the thick end, for splitting wood, stone, etc., forcing apart contiguous objects, dilating a fissure or cavity, tightening or securing some part of a structure, raising a heavy body, and other similar purposes. Hence, in Mechanics, the type of simple machine of which the wedge proper is an example, and which includes also knives, chisels, and cutting and piercing instruments in general; formerly reckoned separately among the ‘mechanical powers’, but now regarded as a variety of the inclined plane.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun] > wedges
wedgec725
verementc1440
froe1573
quinnet1686
plug1766
stooper1784
glut1790
gadder1871
fromward1883
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > mechanical powers > one of
screw1570
lever1648
wedge1648
peritrochium1704
wheel and axle (also axis)1773
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 970 Cuneus, waecg.
a1050 Liber Scintill. xxvii. (1889) 103 Yfele treowes on oste yfel nægel oððe wecg on to fæstnigenne ys.
a1250 J. de Garlande in Wright Voc. (1857) 137 Et cum cuneis [glossed wedgys] et cavillis.
1357 in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III m. 34/2 ij. Wegges ferri.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §14. 8 Thorw wich pyn ther goth a litel wegge which þat is cleped the hors, þat streynet[h] alle thise parties to hepe.
c1440 York Myst. xxxv. 235 Goode wegges schall we take þis tyde, and feste þe foote [of the cross].
c1440 York Myst. xxxv. 242 Gyffe me þis wegge, I schall it in dryue.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 81/2 Clyte, or clote, or vegge, cuneus.
?1474 in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 147 j weegge of yron.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiv The plough fote is a lytell pese of wode wt a croked ende set before in a mortes in the plough beam, sette fast with wedges to driue vp and downe.
1542 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 184 To..reforme and mend the artillery, and to mak carttis, boolis, vagis, and all vder necessaris belangand thairto.
1555 R. Eden tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 342v The marble stone..they breake and cleaue with wedgies of iren.
1569 E. Spenser tr. J. du Bellay Sonets in T. Roest tr. J. van der Noot Theatre Worldlings sig. Ciiiv I hearde the tronke to grone vnder the wedge.
1613 in Trans. Exeter Dioc. Archit. Soc. (1867) 2nd Ser. 1 395 For 5 peire of iron wegges to make faste the brasses, xij d.
1648 Bp. J. Wilkins Math. Magick i. viii. 52 The fift Mechanicall faculty is the Wedge, which is a known instrument, commonly used in the Cleaving of wood.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 421 Tyrrheus..left his Wedge within the cloven Oak.
1711 Mil. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) Wedges are us'd to make fast the Mast in the Partners. They also put a Wedge into the Heels of the Top-Masts, to bear them upon the Tressel-Trees.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Wedge, Cuneus, in Mechanicks, the last of the five Powers or simple Machines... To the Wedge may be refer'd all Edge-Tools, and Instruments which have a sharp Point, in order to cut, cleave, slit, chop, pierce, bore, or the like; as Knives, Hatchets, Swords, Bodkins, &c.
1773 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) 44 The sharper the wedge, or the more acute its angle, the easier it will divide any thing or overcome any resistance.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 43 Forth goes the woodman..To wield the axe And drive the wedge in yonder forest drear.
a1790 W. Newton tr. Vitruvius Archit. (1791) x. xviii. 266 The distended ropes..are then confined at the holes with wedges, that they may not slip.
1842 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 2 73 The wedges employed to secure the rails in the chairs are similarly compressed.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Wedge,..a small fastening for a door or window.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Setting-up, raising a ship from her blocks, shores, &c. by wedges driven between the heels of the shore and the dock foundation.
1888 W. E. Nicholson Gloss. Terms Coal Trade (E.D.D.) Wedge, a sharp or flat pointed iron or steel, used for splitting and breaking coal or stone.
1923 My Mag. Jan. 22 Wedge. A small piece of wood placed under the heel of a living model for support. It is seen in statues.
b. Grafting. (a) A peg to keep the cleft open. (b) The tongue or tapered end of a scion or stock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > by cuttings > cutting or slip > for grafting
imp1377
graffa1398
talionc1440
graft1483
slip1495
set1513
wedge?1523
scutcheon1572
shield1572
truncheon1572
breeder1601
scion1612
escutcheon1658
slit-graft1706
graffshoot1860
shield-bud1891
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > by cuttings > cutting or slip > for grafting > part of
tenon?1523
bourlet1725
tongue1831
wedge1831
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xliiiiv Thou muste haue..a malet to driue thy knife and thy wedge into the tre.
1653 R. Austen Treat. Fruit-trees 48 Being cloven with the knife, and a wedge of Box, or other hard wood knockt in, to keep it open (then prepare the Graft..) [etc.].
1831 On Planting (Libr. Useful Knowl.) iii. 30 The upper division of the scion made by the slit, termed the tongue or wedge, is then inserted into the cleft of the stock.
c. The movable slip of wood, tapered on one side, by means of which the blade of a carpenter's plane is adjusted and fastened in the stock.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > plane > [noun] > other parts of plane
wedge1678
shooting-block1812
shooting-board1846
wear1853
chip breaker1870
mitre board1874
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > wedge
horsec1400
forelock1514
quoin1570
wedge1678
coin1704
wedging1825
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iv. 64 This knocking on the Britch [of a plane] raises the Iron, so it also raises and loosens the wedge: therefore..whenever you knock upon the Britch, you must also knock upon the wedge, to fasten the Iron again.
d. Architecture. A voussoir.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > parts of > voussoir
voussoir1359
coussinet1726
wedge1726
ringpen1832
ring1839
wedge-stone1854
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 73 b The last wedge, which is called the key-stone, shou'd be cut according to the lines of the other wedges, but left a small matter bigger at the top, so that it may..drive the lower wedges closer together.
a1790 W. Newton tr. Vitruvius Archit. (1791) vi. xi. 147 In edifices which are built with piers and arches of wedges with the joints tending to their centers, the extreme piers are to be made of a greater breadth, that they may resist the force when the wedges, pressed by the weight of the walls, and impelling toward the center, thrust against the abutments.
1849 E. A. Freeman Hist. Archit. 20 We might conceive an arch whose voussoirs should be wedges, not of stone..but of wood.
2. attributive.1896 Daily News 21 Feb. 5/1 How many reforms have the Tories resisted with the thin-end-of-the-wedge argument.
a. figurative and in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means
keyOE
toolc1000
wherewithc1230
ministerc1380
meanc1390
instrumenta1425
organ?a1425
mesne1447
moyen1449
handlec1450
hackneya1500
receipta1500
operative1526
ingine1531
appliance1555
agent1579
matter1580
mids1581
wedge1581
wherewithal1583
shoeing-horn1587
engine1589
instrumental1598
Roaring Meg1598
procurement1601
organy1605
vehicle1615
vehiculuma1617
executioner1646
facility1652
operatory1660
instrumentality1663
expedient1665
agency1684
bladea1713
mechanic1924
mechanism1924
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 278 Take an other unvanquishable argument such as all ye Heretiques wedges with all their Beatelles and malles cannot beat abroad.
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. v. §1 Now I am cum to a knot that I have noe wedg to cleave.
1645 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Bad Times ii. vi. 80 The same wedge, wil serve to cleave the former difficulty.
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 87 I hope these Reflections will not be misinterpreted..as a wedge to make way for any Design of mine.
1841 J. C. Calhoun Speech in Wks. (1861) IV. 11 This bill is the entering wedge for all the measures of the session.
1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone xxvii. 267 Just as he had fixed on the astute question which was to drive the first wedge into the mystery, Guy turned..and met him full.
1909 G. A. T. Middleton Eng. Ch. Archit. i. 17 England became a wedge of paganism driven in as it were between the Christianity of the Continent..and the Christianity of Ireland.
1913 R. Lucas Ld. North II. xiv. 168 Shelburne..perceived that there was room for a wedge to be driven in between the French and the Americans.
b. the thin (little or small) end of the wedge, a small beginning which it is hoped or feared may lead to something greater. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [noun] > starting-point > from which progress may be made
sunrise1623
the thin (little or small) end of the wedge1856
a toe in the door1977
1856 C. Fox Jrnl. 8 Nov. in Mem. Old Friends (1882) xxii. 308 Beware, Englishmen, of the tendencies to hierarchy in your country when the thin end of the wedge is introduced: it will work its way on to all this.
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne III. i. 1 (heading) The Small End of the Wedge.
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne III. i. 15 We have all heard of the little end of the wedge... That pill had been the little end of Lady Arabella's wedge. Up to that period she had been struggling in vain to make a severance between her husband and her enemy [the doctor].
1867 Hansard Commons 27 June 615 The thin end of the wedge.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1877) II. x. 460 The rule [of Chrodegang] was but the small end of the wedge.
1884 Graphic 20 Dec. 639/3 Cremation advocates have managed to get in the thin end of the wedge in France.
3. attributive.1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. at Wedge A wedge-feeder, a silver-spoon.1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard II. ii. xiv. 40 A wedge-lobb, otherwise known as a silver snuff-box.
a. An ingot of gold, silver, etc. ? Obsolete.Presumably so called because the ordinary form of an ingot was that of a wedge; cf. Hebrew lāšōn, lit. ‘tongue’, used in the same sense; but in the English use of the word there appears to be no evidence of any reference to shape. The Old English wecg is in translations of Matthew xvii. 27 used for ‘piece of money’ (rendering Latin stater).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > other mediums of exchange > [noun] > uncoined metal as medium of exchange
wedgec900
shoe1702
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > precious metal > [noun] > gold or silver > in the lump > ingot of
wedgec900
ingot1423
barc1595
billet1670
wafer1974
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) i. i. 26 Berende on wecga orum ares & isernes, leades & seolfres.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 60 Hi behwyrfdon heora are..on sumum gyldenum wecge, and ðone on sæ awurpan.
c1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 141/34 Metallum, ælces kynnes wecg vel ora oððe clyna.
c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 49 Þei wilen not touche an halpeny or ferþing wiþ þe coyn..of the kyng,..a weeg of siluer or a cuppe of gold þei wolen handil faste.
1436 Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 171 Also Pruse mene make here aventure Of plate of sylvere, of wegges gode and sure In grete plente.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 48 [He] made þe vesseles of syluyr whech longed on-to þe cherch to be molten, and þe weggis þerof be sold and departed to por men.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xxviii. 16 No wedges of gold of Ophir.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Josh. vii. 21 Two hundreth shekels of siluer and a wedge of golde of fyftie shekels weight. [So 1611 (margin, Heb. tunge)].
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 403/1 Aurum purum, infectum,..gold vnwrought, and in the wedge.
1609 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. (ed. 2) Ingot, a wedge of gold, also the trough wherin it is molten.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 140 Fifty thousand Talents of vncoyned Gold, besides siluer wedges.
1694 F. Bragge Pract. Disc. Parables v. 194 'Tis like a child's slighting a wedge of gold, and rather pursuing an empty bubble because it shines and glitters.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 228 I found there..some small Bars or Wedges of Gold.
b. Cant. Silver, whether money or plate.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > other mediums of exchange > [noun] > uncoined metal as medium of exchange > silver
sycee1711
wedge1725
hacksilver1896
1725 New Canting Dict. Wedge, Plate, or Silver or Gold Moveables and Trinkets: Also Money.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 209 A convenient fencing repository, from the lady's tyke to the nobleman's wedge.
1821 Life D. Haggart (ed. 2) 98 I had some wedge planked in a garret in North Leith... I was anxious to convert it into blunt.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 29 May 2/1 Between two and three I turns over a pawnbroker's shop, and gets safe away with a lot of wedge—that's silver plate.
4. A lump or cake of any solid substance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > dense or compact
clota1000
massa1382
gobbetc1384
clustera1387
lumpa1400
wedge1577
loaf1598
knot1631
clumper1673
clue1674
clump1699
lob1825
wodge1847
nugget1851
density1858
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 146v The Creame..is..put into a vessell..wherin with often beating and moouing vp and downe, they so shake the milke, as they seuer the thinnest part of from the thicke, which at the fyrst gather together in little crombles, and after with the continuance of the violent moouing, commeth to a whole wedge, or cake [L. in massam cogatur].
1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 57 When you have churned, wash your Butter..and beat it well..; let it stand in a Wedge..till the next morning.
1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. iv. 74 Different kinds of rude money..; skins in one country, shells in another, and wedges of salt in a third.
5. transferred.1881 E. B. Tylor Anthropol. i. 11 Deciphered from the wedge-characters of Nineveh.1915 Pinches in Proc. Soc. Bibl. Archæ ol. XXXVII. 90 We have a direct testimony to the practice outside the wedge-inscriptions.
a. A formation of troops tapering to the front or van, in order to cleave a way through an opposing force. (Originally after Latin cuneus; cf. wedge-battle n. at Compounds 2.) Now more widely of a body of people.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > wedge
bersuell1489
wedge-battle1598
wedge1614
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. xii. §7. 152 Taking a choise Companie of the most able men, whom he cast into the forme of a Wedge, or Diamond.
1615 H. Peacham Most True Relation Affaires Cleve & Gulick sig. C2v The Horse..were showne in the field in order of fight: their manner was in forme of a Pile or wedge, called of the old Romans, Cuneus.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iii. 308 See how in warlike muster they appear, In Rhombs and wedges, and half moons, and wings. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 603 One Soul inspiring all, Form'd in a Wedge, the Foot approach the Wall.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word)
1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 20 Thrice their keen wedge of battle pierced our lines.
1887 Times (Weekly ed.) 21 Oct. 2/1 A wedge of 15 or 18 policemen were endeavouring to be driven into that meeting.
1900 M. Hewlett Life & Death Richard Yea-and-Nay ii. ix The wedge held firm; red work for axe and swords while it lasted.
1913 J. H. Morrison On Trail of Pioneers 1 Every entrance is blocked, and down every gangway a long wedge of standing people has been driven deep into the heart of the house.
b. The V-shaped formation adopted by a number of geese or other wildfowl when flying.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > [noun] > formation when flying
wedge1869
harrow1876
1725 I. Watts Logick ii. ii. §1 The wild Geese flew over the Thames in the Form of a Wedge.]
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone II. i. 6 So like half a wedge of wildfowl, to and fro we swept the field.
1889 Daily News 11 Jan. 5/3 There drifts over the moor a wedge of clangorous geese, making for the Channel.
c. gen. Something in the form of a wedge; a wedge-shaped part or piece of anything.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > [noun] > tapered object > wedge-shaped object, piece, or part
wedge1821
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais l. 23 One keen pyramid with wedge sublime, Pavilioning the dust of him who planned This refuge for his memory.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 39 A pot of the real draught stout, and..cushions of bread, and wedges of cheese.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xii. 89 The glacier here..was cut up into thin wedges.
1889 H. Saunders Man. Brit. Birds 660 The three outer primaries are of a dusky-black which becomes paler towards the edges of the inner webs, though there is no grey ‘wedge’.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. IV. 430 It is better, instead of removing such a kidney, to treat each focus independently by scraping or by the excision of a wedge.
d. A strip of land narrowing to a point.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > tract > [noun] > strip
sideling1250
tail1472
strake1503
vein1555
slip1591
neckland1598
slang1610
spang1610
screed1615
gore1650
spong1650
belt1725
slinget1790
stripe1801
strip1816
wedge1867
ribbon1923
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Wedge, a Sand so called, being broad at the West end, and sharp at the East end, and lies on the North side of the Marget Sands.]
1867 R. I. Murchison Siluria (new ed.) xvii. 412 The Coal-field..thins out and deteriorates so much that to the west of Béthune it has merely become a narrow wedge.
1918 Blackwood's Mag. June 771/2 The white wedge of Kildin Island is now on our port bow.
e. In an organ (see quot. 1852).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > organ > [noun] > pipe > other parts of pipes
tongue1551
mouth1727
lip1728
reed1728
wind-cuttera1834
labium1847
beak1852
beard1852
underlip1852
wedge1852
body tube1854
plate-of-wind1875
wind-way1875
1852 tr. J. J. Seidel Organ & its Constr. 78 The wedge of the mouth..is the interval between the under lip and the language.
f. Meteorology. A narrow wedge-shaped area of high pressure between two adjacent cyclonic systems; also the representation of this on a weather-chart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > movements and pressure conditions > [noun] > atmospheric pressure > (area of) high pressure > specific shape or position
ridge1847
wedge1887
1887 R. Abercromby Weather ii. 26 Between the two cyclones the isobar of 29·9 ins. projects upwards, like a wedge or an inverted letter V., but this time encloses high pressure; this shape of lines is called a ‘wedge’.
g. The wedge-shaped stroke in cuneiform characters. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > part of letter > in cuneiform
wedge1821
1821 Rich Babylon & P. (1839) 249 The wedges in the third [kind of inscription] cross each other.
1883 G. Evans Ess. Assyriol. 6 The kind of writing in the copies, with the wedge as its fundamental element, was to them perfectly new.
h. Short for wedge-shell n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Donacidae
wedge1815
wedge-shell1820
1815 S. Brookes Introd. Conchol. 157 Wedge, Donax.
i. A v-shaped sign used in various musical and other notations (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > crescendo or diminuendo signs
swell1757
wedge1893
1893 E. M. Thompson Handbk. Greek & Lat. Palaeogr. v. 68 The paragraph-mark was not..uniformly the horizontal stroke; the wedge >..and similar forms were employed.
1970 Language 46 78 Wedges printed after vowel symbols, e.g. [aˆa˃aˇa˂], indicate raising, backing, lowering, and fronting.
1980 Early Music 8 401/1 The most fascinating [signs] are the wedges indicating crescendo, diminuendo and messa da voce on single long notes: ◀, ▶, ◆, and a passage with second-position fingerings.
j. Golf. A golf club with a wedge-shaped head, used for lofting the ball at approach shots, or (= sand-wedge n. at sand n.2 Compounds 2a) out of a bunker, etc. Also, a shot made with a wedge.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > equipment > [noun] > club > types of club
play club1685
putting club1690
gentlemen's club1709
putter1783
spoon1790
iron1793
sand-iron1796
whip-club1808
cleek1829
driving putter1833
bunker-iron1857
driver1857
niblick1857
putting iron1857
baffing-spoon1858
mid-spoon1858
short spoon1858
sand-club1873
three-wood1875
long iron1877
driving cleek1881
mashie1881
putting cleek1881
track-iron1883
driving iron1887
lofting-iron1887
baffy1888
brassy1888
bulger1889
lofter1889
lofter1892
jigger1893
driving mashie1894
mid-iron1897
mashie-niblick1907
wood1915
pinsplitter1916
chipper1921
blaster1937
sand-wedge1937
wedge1937
1924 J. White Easier Golf iv. 100 What I attempt to do is to use this heel [of a club]..as a wedge, and by driving this into the sand behind the ball I create sufficient disturbance to force the ball out of any lie.]
1937 H. Longhurst Golf i. xxii. 196 No chapter on bunker play would be complete without a description of..the..sand wedge.
1952 Chambers's Jrnl. May 300/1 Basil walked moodily off the tee, and after five minutes' search found his ball embedded in a patch of the foulest rough on the course, hacked it out with his wedge, and, playing two odd to the green, lost the hole.
1961 Times 1 July 4/1 He..played an overcautious wedge at the Royal.
1975 Daily Tel. 12 Sept. (Colour Suppl.) 9/4 Putting is out; most golfers carry just a driver, a four-wood, mid-iron and wedge.
k. A wedge heel; a wedge-soled shoe. See sense 9 below. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > heel > types of
heelc1400
cork1609
Polonia heel1613
high heel1645
French heel1651
spur box1862
rubber heel1867
boot-heel1870
Louis Quinze1875
Louis heel1906
Cuban heel1908
brogue heel1927
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
stiletto1953
wedge1959
stacked heel1960
stilt heel1973
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with specific heels > high heels
high shoe1606
heels1667
court shoe1885
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
wedge shoe1939
wedge sole1939
wedgie1940
court1959
wedge1959
pump1967
stilt heel1973
Manolo Blahnik1988
1959 Chambers's 20th Cent. Dict. Add.
1965 R. Hardwick Plotters (1966) xi. 102 Stretch pants, wedges, and a leghorn hat.
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 137 Wedge, a solid heel joined to the sole in one solid piece.
1976 Washington Post 19 Apr. a12/3 (advt.) Casual style wedges in Oxford and slip-on styles.
1983 Times 14 July 11/3 Gladiator straps on stacked wooden wedge..£44.50.
l. A hair style in which the ends of the hair are slightly graduated so that they form a series of wedges. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > layered
shingle1924
bingle1925
layer cut1964
wedge1976
1976 Time 19 Apr. 69 There are many variations on the new wedge. Stylists at the Paul McGregor shops in New York and Los Angeles have shaped the back of the cut into three inverted pyramids.
1977 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 19 Jan. 6/4 After she became a headliner, Dorothy's hairdo, called the wedge, sent girls rushing off to hairdressers to duplicate the look.
1985 Hair Summer 78 (caption) Short, sculptured sweeping version of the wedge has classy clout in the form of a pink flash.
6. Geometry.
a. A triangular prism.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [noun] > prism > specific
wedge1723
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > three-dimensional > prism
prism1570
prismoid1704
wedge1723
1723 J. Clarke tr. Rohault's Syst. Nat. Philos. I. i. xiv. 87 Let ABC represent a Wedge; and let CG be perpendicular to AB.
1829 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. Mechanics ii. x. 43 A Wedge is a solid figure, which is called in geometry a triangular prism.
b. A simple solid formed by cutting a triangular prism by any two planes.
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > three-dimensional > formed by cutting solid
segment of a sphere1570
sector of a sphere1656
frustum1658
truncated cone or pyramid1704
frustulum1785
wedge1883
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 24/2 The wedge being merely the frustum of a triangular prism, we have at once [etc.].
1895 A. Lodge Mensuration 7 If from a triangular prism of indefinite length, a piece is cut off by two transverse planes which are not parallel, this piece is called a wedge.
7. Heraldry. A charge consisting of an isosceles triangle with a very acute angle at its vertex.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > other heraldic representations > [noun] > wedge
wedge1716
1716 S. Kent Gram. Heraldry Proctor of Norfolk; He beareth Or, three Wedges Sable.
1780 J. Edmondson Compl. Body Heraldry II. Alphabet of Arms Isam, or Isham..vert, three wedges ar.
1847 W. S. Evans Gram. Brit. Heraldry 151 The Nail (sometimes called the Passion-nail)..must not be confounded with the Wedge, which is of course wider at the top, and in shape something like a pile.
8. Cambridge University. the (wooden) wedge: the student last in the classical tripos list.This counterpart of the older ‘wooden spoon’ (see wooden adj.), designating the last man in the mathematical tripos, was suggested by the fact that in the first classical tripos (1824) the last man was Wedgwood of Christ's College, afterwards famous as an English etymologist.
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society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > candidates > who passes > passing at university > placed in tripos
optime1658
wrangler1750
opt1755
optimate1792
wooden spoon1803
spoon1824
op1828
senior wrangler1831
wedge1852
senior classic1859
1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 253 Of the remainder, five were Wranglers, four of these Double men, and a fifth a favorite for the Wedge... The last man is called the Wedge, corresponding to the Spoon in Mathematics.
9. Designating a wedge-shaped heel extended under the instep of a woman's shoe (also, the sole which includes this), or a shoe having such a heel. Frequently as wedge-heel, wedge shoe, wedge sole; wedge-heeled, wedge-soled adjs. Cf. sense 5k above.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > with sole > with specific type of sole
corked1519
single-soled1541
well-soled1663
thick-soled1815
crêpe-soled1935
platform-soled1938
wedge-soled1939
creepers1961
Vibram-soled1963
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > with heel > with specific type of heel
corked1519
high-heeled1618
high heel1677
red-heeled1709
low-heel1712
stilt-heeled1772
court1903
wedge-heeled1939
Cuban-heeled1940
spike-heeled1953
stiletto-heeled1959
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > sole > other
cork1463
crêpe sole1926
platform sole1938
wedge sole1939
platform1945
ripple sole1949
Vibram1950
lug sole1961
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > heel > types of
heelc1400
cork1609
Polonia heel1613
high heel1645
French heel1651
spur box1862
rubber heel1867
boot-heel1870
Louis Quinze1875
Louis heel1906
Cuban heel1908
brogue heel1927
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
stiletto1953
wedge1959
stacked heel1960
stilt heel1973
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with specific heels > high heels
high shoe1606
heels1667
court shoe1885
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
wedge shoe1939
wedge sole1939
wedgie1940
court1959
wedge1959
pump1967
stilt heel1973
Manolo Blahnik1988
1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 164/3 Wedge-soled, having a wedge-shaped piece making a solid sole, flat on the ground from heel to toe.
1940 R. Graves & A. Hodge Long Week-end xxi. 375 A high-heeled fancy shoe..and a wedge-heeled streamlined type.
1940 Manch. Guardian Weekly 11 Oct. 259 Today's displays of courts..and wedge-heel, and all other of the creations of the fashion-designer, give no indication..of what was really a welcome weeding out.
1940 O. Nash in New Yorker 23 Nov. 18/2 Let us give thanks that women's wedge shoes weren't invented until they were.
1942 in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing in Present Cent. (1952) viii. 271 Practical [shoes], with flatter heels, square toed and wedge-soled.
1951 Sunday Pictorial 29 Oct. Fancy shoes with thick crepe-rubber wedge soles which are known to connoisseurs as ‘creepers’.
1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy iv. 102 Mail-order firms advertise fancy wedge-shoes.
1975 D. Beaty Electr. Train 153 Painted faces clumping up..on six-inch wedge shoes.
1983 P. Devlin All of us There x. 112 Her daughter, in a new permanently pleated skirt, wedge-heeled shoes.
Compounds
C1. Combinations, chiefly similative.
a.
wedge-blade n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > chisel > [noun]
chisela1382
wedge-blade1917
1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 113 The fine, fine wind... Like a fine, an exquisite chisel, a wedge-blade inserted.
wedge-block n.
ΚΠ
1868 C. B. Norton & W. J. Valentine Rep. to Govt. U.S. on Munitions of War at Paris Universal Exhib. 1867 55 The breech is opened and closed by a wedge-block worked by a hinged lever.
wedge-bolt n.
ΚΠ
1892 W. W. Greener Breech-loader 22 A round steel wedge-bolt.
wedge-fashion n.
ΚΠ
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng Restored 190 These [stones] also were either of a Wedge fashion, or wedged under the Great One.
wedge-form n.
ΚΠ
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 295 This wedge-form of the whinstone masses.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 7 June 4/2 A disc on which black and white wedge-forms alternated.
wedge-head n.
ΚΠ
1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 343/1 These [bars of steel] are welded together by forging to wedge-heads, tying together with wire [etc.].
wedge-shape n.
ΚΠ
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. i. 43 The white thorn [hedge]..when properly trained, and occasionally cut over, or dressed in the wedge-shape,..will last for ages.
1895 W. J. Hoffman Beginnings of Writing 141 The end of the stick would be sharpened into a wedge-shape.
wedge-stone n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > parts of > voussoir
voussoir1359
coussinet1726
wedge1726
ringpen1832
ring1839
wedge-stone1854
1854 E. de Warren tr. L. F. J. De Saulcy Journey Dead Sea II. 113 The voussoir, or early wedge-stone.
wedge-wad n.
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Siege & Garrison Artillery Exercises 53 Wedge wads..consist of two wooden wedges connected by a piece of cane... These wads are to be rammed home separately after the projectiles.
b.
wedge-balancing adj.
ΚΠ
1921 D. H. Lawrence Tortoises 19 Four rowing limbs, and one wedge-balancing head.
wedge-billed adj.
ΚΠ
1835 E. Stanley Familiar Hist. Birds (1848) xiii. 289 Tribe 1. Cuneirostral (Wedge-Billed).
wedge-sided adj.
ΚΠ
1852 Mechanics' Mag. 10 July 23 When taper or ‘wedge-sided’ type is employed, the cylinder need not be more in circumference than the size of the sheet of paper.
C2. Special combinations.† wedge-battle n. Obsolete = sense 5a.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > wedge
bersuell1489
wedge-battle1598
wedge1614
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iii. 78 Out of a square of men hath bin first reduced..a triangle or wedge battell in perfect order to fight.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 273 The wedge battaile of the Christians could not of the Turks be broken.
wedge-bill n. a bird with a wedge-shaped bill, as (a) the Australian Sphenostoma cristatum; (b) a South American hummingbird of the genus Schistes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > [noun] > miscellaneous types of
babbler?a1808
thrush-nightingale1840
wedge-bill1848
ground-thrush1855
thrush-babbler1878
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
zumbador1758
sunbeam1769
black warrior1831
hermit-bird1837
Anna's hummingbird1839
jacobin1843
straight-tail1843
vervain hummingbird1847
wedge-bill1848
fiery topaz1854
sungem1856
wood-star1859
calliope1861
rainbow1861
sabre-wing1861
sawbill1861
swallowtail1861
sword-bill1861
thorn-bill1861
visor-bearer1861
warrior1861
wood-nymph1861
puffleg1869
calliope hummingbird1872
flame-bearer1882
shear-tail1885
plature1890
rainbow starfrontlet1966
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. III. Pl. 17 Crested Wedge-bill.
1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 219 Schistes personatus,..Masked Wedge-bill.
1861 J. Gould Monogr. Trochilidæ IV. Pl. 220 White-throated Wedge-bill.
wedge-bone n. †(a) the sphenoid bone; (b) a small bone sometimes occurring in lizards on the undersurface of the spinal column at the junction of a pair of vertebræ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > sphenoid bone
wedge-bone1615
sphenoidal bone1726
sphenoid bone1732
sphenoid1828
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > member of (lizard) > part of
wedge-bone1871
columella1873
parietal eye1886
prokinesis1962
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 442 Sphenoides or the Wedge-bone.
1871 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Vertebrated Animals v. 217 Such a..sub-vertebral wedge-bone is commonly developed beneath and between the odontoid bone and the body of the second vertebra.
wedge-coral n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [noun] > class Anthozoa Actinozoa > non-specific types
stone-shrub1687
white bead bandstring1696
sea-mulberry1753
wedge-coral1860
1860 P. H. Gosse Actinologia Brit. 324 The Smooth-ribbed Wedge-coral. Sphenotrochus Macandrewanus.
1860 P. H. Gosse Actinologia Brit. 326 The Knotted Wedge-coral. Sphenotrochus Wrightii.
wedge-draining n. a mode of draining land, somewhat similar to plug-draining.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > ditching or drainage > [noun] > other types of drainage
gutteringc1420
strand1565
sewaging1610
thorough-draining1669
cuniculus1670
French drain1738
riggot?1746
bush-draining1748
surface drain1765
land-drain1767
pipe-draining1776
surface draining1777
fox1784
surface drainage1796
mole drain1804
soughing1808
acequia1811
well-draining1818
tile-draining1830
wedge-draining?1830
plug-draining1833
land-drainage1841
land-draining1841
mole-draining1842
trough gutter1856
mole-ditching1860
mole drainage1860
tile-drainagea1865
well point1867
karez1875
storm sewer1887
moling1943
tiling1943
storm drain1960
?1830 P. Sellar Netherby, Cumberland 67, in Farm-rep. The wedge or brick draining..is certainly not so well known among practical farmers as its merits deserve.
wedge-fern n. a fossil fern of the genus Sphenopteris.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > fossil ferns
sphenopteris1837
wedge-leaf fern1851
wedge-fern1867
glossopteris1883
Medullosa1885
medullosan1920
1867 W. W. Smyth Treat. Coal & Coal-mining 36 Sphenopteris (wedge-fern).
wedge-fid n. Nautical (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Wedge-fids, for top and top-gallant masts; in two parts, lifting by shores and sett-wedges.
wedge-form adj. = wedge-shaped adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > [adjective] > wedge-shaped
wedged1552
cuneal1578
wedge-like1594
coin-formed1600
cuneiform1677
feather-edged1703
cuneated1727
wedge-shaped1790
wedgy1799
cuneate1810
wedge-form1822
wedge-formed1822
1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 221 Ovatedly wedge-form.
1843 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. I. 15 In many plants the wedge~form plates..appear as an irregular cellular tissue.
wedge-formed adj. = wedge-shaped adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > [adjective] > wedge-shaped
wedged1552
cuneal1578
wedge-like1594
coin-formed1600
cuneiform1677
feather-edged1703
cuneated1727
wedge-shaped1790
wedgy1799
cuneate1810
wedge-form1822
wedge-formed1822
1822 J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 188 A longitudinal, wedge-formed, equivalved bivalve.
1861 C. Darwin Let. in F. Darwin Life & Lett. C. Darwin (1887) III. 265 These packets cohere into many wedge-formed masses in Orchis.
wedge-grafting n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > grafting > other methods of grafting
emplastering?c1425
emplastration?1440
infoliation1577
semination1589
emplaster1601
packing1615
shoulder-grafting1669
side grafting1704
crown grafting1706
root grafting1707
rind grafting1722
tipping1763
saddle grafting1792
wedge-grafting1838
1838 W. Barron in Gardener's Mag. XIV. 80 The grafting of the Cedrus Deodara on the Cedar of Lebanon..is accomplished by what I call wedge-grafting.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist §657 Wedge-grafting..is a modification of side-grafting.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist §664 Herbaceous wedge-grafting is effected by paring the scion into a wedge shape, and inserting it into a corresponding slit in the stock.
wedge-gun n. a field-gun in which a wedge is used in closing the breech.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > other pieces of ordnance
bombardc1430
ribaudequin1443
stock-gun1465
seven sistersa1529
chamber1540
bastard1545
chamber piece1547
volger1548
dogc1550
battardc1565
long shot1595
quarter piece1625
pelican1639
monkey1650
spirol1653
stock-fowler1669
saltamartino1684
smeriglio1688
botcarda1700
carriage gun1723
Lancaster1857
Armstrong1860
wire gun1860
Columbiad1861
Parrott1861
wedge-gun1876
truck-gun1883
motor cannon1889
Black Maria1914
Jack Johnson1914
supergun1915
flak1938
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Wedge Gun.
wedge-leaf fern n. = wedge-fern n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > fossil ferns
sphenopteris1837
wedge-leaf fern1851
wedge-fern1867
glossopteris1883
Medullosa1885
medullosan1920
1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions 32 The other characteristic Wealden plant is the Sphenopteris (S. Mantelli), or wedge-leaf fern.
wedge-micrometer n. a graduated wedge-shaped piece of metal or glass, to be thrust between two fixed points to determine their distance apart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for determining or verifying dimensions > for narrow gaps
wedge-micrometer1891
feeler1919
slip gauge1919
Jo block1936
1891 Cent. Dict. at Micrometer Wedge-micrometer.
wedge-photometer n. Astronomy an instrument consisting of a wedge of glass, used for measuring the comparative brightness of stars.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > observational instruments > [noun] > stars
astrometer1783
astrophanometer?1810
scintillometer1861
astrophotometer1866
siderostat1868
wedge-photometer1883
scintilloscope1890
1883 C. Pritchard in Mem. Royal Astron. Soc. XLVII. 394 The question, then, arises as to the applicability of the wedge-photometer to the measurement of the magnitude..of such stars.
wedge-press n. a press used for extracting oil from seeds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > oil-press or -mill
pressour1348
press1373
oil mill?1440
oil pressc1720
wedge-press1844
pogy-press1880
1844 Penny Mag. Sept. 381 The triturated seeds were put into woollen bags which were wrapped up in hair-cloths, and then submitted to the wedge-press.
wedge-shell n. a marine bivalve, belonging to Donax or allied genera.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Donacidae
wedge1815
wedge-shell1820
1820 C. Wodarch Introd. Study Conchol. 23 Donax.—Wedge-shell.
wedge-tail n. Australian the wedge-tailed eagle (see wedge-tailed adj.); = eagle-hawk n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > genus Aquila > aquila audax (wedge-tail)
eagle-hawk1805
wedge-tail1935
1935 A. C. Chisholm Bird Wonders Austral. x. 102 The Wedge-tail is a formidable foe for any native mammal.
1965 H. Frauca Bk. Austral. Wild Life 93 Some cattlemen..suggested that the local wedgetails be classified as vermin because they were scratching the cattle. One cattleman said that two of his cows had been ‘badly scratched by them eagle-hawks’.
1974 D. Stuart Prince of my Country ii. 9 Watching the long effortless circling of the wedgetail high in the air.
1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Jan. 76/2 Australia is the only place in the whole world where the wedgetail eagle is known.
wedge-tailed adj. having a wedge-shaped tail; used spec. in the names of birds, as the wedge-tailed eagle ( Uroaetus audax) of Australia, and the wedge-tailed gull, Rhodostethia rosea.
ΚΠ
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. I. Pl. 1 Wedge-tailed Eagle.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 316 Wedge-tailed, or Ross' Rosy Gull.
1898 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Romance of Canvas Town 73 The great wedge-tailed Eagle soaring above them.
wedge tent n. = A tent n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > tent > [noun] > other types of tent
tenticle1548
pal1656
marquee1690
gourbi1738
marquise1749
yurt1780
bell-tent1785
kibitka1799
shuldari1808
fly-tent1816
Swiss cottage1820
skin house1826
big tent1843
ridge tent1846
brush tent1862
dog tent1862
shelter tent1862
wall-tent1862
wedge tent1862
pup tent1863
A tent1863
tupik1864
tentlet1879
choom1889
pyramid1889
tortoise tent1890
safari tent1926
tent-sack1940
tent-trailer1963
tepee1970
trailer tent1971
Whillans box1971
1862 O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 49 We used to sleep on the ground or on pine boughs when we had the small wedge tents.
1891 Fur, Fin & Feather Mar. 169 One of the Englishmen bunked inside the wagon and the other two slept in a little wedge tent close to hand.
1940 G. W. Martin Mod. Camping Guide v. 86 The wedge tent, known also as the A tent, is a popular model with explorers and other outdoorsmen who want something a little larger than a tiny crawl-in tent.
1980 D. T. Roscoe Your Bk. Camping (‘Your Bk.’ Ser.) ii. 22 Wedge tents..are designed to save weight and bulk and to withstand wind better when the smaller end is pitched directly into it.
Draft additions 1993
A wad of bank notes; hence, (a significant amount of) money. Cf. sense 3b above. slang (originally Criminals').
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > large sum
pounda1225
ransom?a1300
fother14..
gob1542
mint1579
king's ransomc1590
abomination1604
coda1680
a pretty (also fine, fair, etc.) penny1710
plunk1767
big money1824
pot1856
big one?1863
a small fortune1874
four figures1893
poultice1902
parcel1903
bundle1905
pretty1909
real money1918
stack1919
packet1922
heavy sugar1926
motza1936
big bucks1941
bomb1958
wedge1977
megadollars1980
squillion1986
bank1995
1977 D. Powis Signs of Crime 207 Wedge, large number of banknotes folded once.
1981 Times 4 Aug. 10/2 Top villains..share an idiosyncratic argot (‘wedge’, for example, for a stack of money).
1987 Melody Maker 8 Aug. 46 (advt.) Don't part with your hard earned wedge until you've seen it.
1990 Times 22 June 19/2 It was a decision dictated by finance... Somebody offered me a lot of wedge.
Draft additions June 2006
wedge issue n. Politics (originally and chiefly North American) an extremely divisive issue, esp. viewed as a means of drawing voters away from a political party split by it.
ΚΠ
1982 Chicago Tribune 13 May i. 23/5 It is Kennedy, today, who is promoting the high-visibility cause of the nuclear freeze, a wedge issue if ever there was one.
1991 Newsweek 16 Dec. 28/3 Black is an expert in the use of ‘wedge issues’, like crime and the flag, to split off conservative white males from the Democratic Party.
1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Oct. 74/1 The Croatian offensive proved to be a wedge issue that divided not only Americans and Europeans, but the top echelons of the American government itself.
2004 J. Micklethwait & A. Wooldridge Right Nation xii. 311 Conservatives were the first to turn abortion into a wedge issue in the South, as values trumped class in American politics.
Draft additions September 2019
wedge salad n. U.S. a salad consisting of a wedge of iceberg lettuce served with various toppings, typically blue cheese dressing and bacon.Compare slightly earlier lettuce wedge salad (see quot. 1943).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > prepared vegetables and dishes > [noun] > salad
saladc1390
round salad1578
acetar1623
acetary1657
green salad1675
sass1775
potato salad1796
Russian salad1846
egg salad1873
sunomono1900
salade niçoise1907
Spanish salad1911
Waldorf salad1911
gado-gado1924
Spanish sauce1928
panzanella1937
side salad1940
Caesar salad1946
Cobb salad1947
wedge salad1949
chaat1954
fattoush1955
tabbouleh1955
pico de gallo1958
Caesar1978
caprese1978
1943 Lincoln Nebraska State Jrnl. 7 Dec. 11/2 Budgeting your food points... Dinner... Lettuce wedge salad, head lettuce, 1000 Island dressing.]
1949 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 8 Aug. 6/2 (advt.) Salad Bowl. Wedge Salad, Tomatoes, Hard Boiled Egg, Cottage Cheese..25 c[ents].
2019 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 17 Mar. 8 e I'd recommend..the wedge salad, a half head of frigid iceberg sloshed over with an irresistible mess of blue cheese, bacon crumbles and cherry tomatoes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wedgev.1
/wɛdʒ/, U.S. /wɛdʒ/ 1. † b. transferred and figurative. To fasten firmly or attach to. Obsolete.† c. To render (a gun) useless by the insertion of a wedge. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To tighten, fasten tight by driving in a wedge or wedges. Also with in, on, up.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with wedge
wedgec1440
quoin1637
forelock1769
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 520/1 Wedge, wythe a wedge [Winch. Wegge with a wegge], cuneo.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiiiiv Than may he..toth the rakes..& driue the teth vpwarde fast & harde, & than wedge them aboue with dry wode of oke.
1668 R. Boyle in Philos. Trans. 1667 (Royal Soc.) 2 590 A piece of Shining Wood, wedged in with a piece of Cork.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iv. 66 The Iron [of the Plane] being then well wedg'd up.
1722 A. Philips Briton iii. v. 32 My Chariot straight; another, for the Prince. Store them with Spears; wedge on the keenest Scythes.
a1790 W. Newton tr. Vitruvius Archit. (1791) vi. xi. 146 When posts are placed under them, and wedged, the beams cannot settle or be damaged.
1816 J. Austen Emma II. x. 192 I have been assisting Miss Fairfax in trying to make her instrument stand steadily... You see we have been wedging one leg with paper. View more context for this quotation
1826 J. Gwilt tr. Vitruvius Archit. (1860) vi. xi. 148 When posts are introduced and wedged up under them, the beams are prevented from sagging.
1840 H. S. Tanner Canals & Rail Roads U.S. 151 The wooden key used in wedging fast the upper string piece.
1842 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 2 78 Compressed trenails..would hold tighter than the trenails now used, which require to have the points split and wedged up.
1875 Carpentry & Joinery 55 The simple but useful operation of wedging tenon and mortice joints.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > affection > [verb (transitive)] > join in sympathy or affection
couple1362
attach1621
wedge1629
bond1965
cleave1979
1629 J. Maxwell tr. Herodian Hist. iv. 191 Both the Emperours..seeking to win and wedge men to their seuerall Factions, by faire Promises.
1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa i. ii. 46 They find the Prelates and Popes themselves, so wedg'd and link'd to Secular advantages, they have not time to think upon God.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > putting weapons or equipment out of action > put weapons or equipment out of action [verb (transitive)] > silence a gun > by spiking
clowa1522
peg1551
to nail up1562
cloy1577
nail1598
spick1623
spike1644
wedge1680
spike1687
1680 Exact Jrnl. Siege Tangier 8 Leaving the Guns double shotted, spiked and wedged with steel.
1680 Exact Jrnl. Siege Tangier 11 The Men of Charles Fort having Spiked and Wedged their great Guns.
d. to wedge up: to raise a ship before launching, by means of slivers or wedges driven between the false keel and the bilgeways.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > build a ship [verb (transitive)] > raise a ship prior to launch
to wedge up1879
1879 ‘H. Collingwood’ Secret of Sands xix Four months..saw her caulked, her seams paid, her hull painted, and, in short, everything ready, even to wedging up, for launching.
2.
a. To cleave or split by driving in a wedge.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > work with tools or equipment [verb (transitive)] > other tools or equipment
rolla1325
coina1483
wedge1530
maul1664
burnish1793
roller1828
shear1837
miser1847
trough1881
tank1905
trepan1909
lance1945
plough1961
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > cleaving or splitting > cleave or split [verb (transitive)] > by driving in a wedge
wedge1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 778/2 I wedge a blocke, I put in a wedge to cleave it, je coigne... Wedge this blocke, it wyll ryve the soner.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. i. 35 My heart, As wedged with a sigh would riue in twaine. View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 98 They drive a Wedge so far in the kerf as they dare..and so provide the Saw a freer and easier passage through the Stuff: This Wedging they continue so oft as they find occasion.
b. To split off, to force apart, asunder, or open, by driving in a wedge. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate [verb (transitive)] > separate by force or violence > by driving in a wedge
wedge1853
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > detach [verb (transitive)] > break off > by driving in a wedge
wedge1853
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xlvi. 423 And even now great ledges are wedged off from the hillsides by the ice.
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xix. vi. 535 Friedrich and he are wedged asunder by that dike of Russians and Austrians.
1873 J. T. Moggridge Harvesting Ants i. 33 Having contrived to wedge off several large flakes of the rock.
1894 Advance (Chicago) Oct. 4 It is not commonly the big things but the little ones which wedge pastor and people apart.
1914 H. Balfour in Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 66 33 A billet of lime wood, split at one end and wedged open with a stone.
3.
a. transferred. To drive, push, or squeeze (an object) into something where it is held fast; to fix firmly by driving in, or by pressing tight. Const. into, in, under, between. Also with adverb, as in, up, down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > cram or stuff in
crama1400
wedge1513
enfarce1564
pester1570
farce1579
stuff1579
ram1582
impact1601
thrum1603
to cramp in1605
crowd1609
impack1611
screw1635
infarciate1657
stodge1674
choke1747
bodkin1793
jam1793
bodkinize1833
pump1899
shoehorn1927
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > make fast [verb (transitive)] > fasten or fix > between two bodies or surfaces
wedge1513
jam1719
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xi. xv. 85 Quhill that the lance..wedgyt deip within hir cost stude.
1607 T. Dekker Whore of Babylon sig. L Fall thunder, And wedge me into earth, stiffe as I am.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. i. 59 Among the crow'd i'th'Abbey, where a finger Could not be wedg'd in more. View more context for this quotation
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng Restored 190 These [stones] also were either of a Wedge fashion, or wedged under the Great One.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World vii. 195 Besides what Gold and Sand they take up together, they often find great lumps, wedg'd between the Rocks.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 336 Sergesthus in the Centaur soon he pass'd, Wedg'd in the Rocky Sholes, and sticking fast.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. iii. 63 Squeezing my legs together, [he] wedged them into the Marrow-bone above my wast.
1764 S. Foote Patron iii. 61 I was wedged so close in the pit that I could scarcely get out.
1806 A. Duncan Life Nelson 12 They became..fast wedged in the ice.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 336 If a coach or a cart entered those alleys, there was danger that it would be wedged between the houses.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. vii. 82 The boy..tried to wedge some of his cake into her mouth.
1869 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend I. i. xiv. 130 Driven into that nook, and wedged as he had described, was Gaffer's boat.
1870 Spectator 19 Nov. 1370/1 If they are permitted to go on, they will wedge themselves in between the Germans, and be able to enfilade the corps on each side.
1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 239 In its persevering search for the snails, it had got its head tightly wedged some distance into the wall.
1908 H. Wales Old Allegiance (ed. 2) i. 14 He..sat with..his pipe firmly wedged in the corner of his mouth.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. iii. 28 Nay your wit will not so soone out as another mans will, 'tis strongly wadg'd vp in a blocke-head. View more context for this quotation
a1659 R. Brownrig 65 Serm. (1674) I. xxvi. 340 He wedges in the other Prayer for a competency of temporal things.
1730 Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 29 Having been wedged down in this detestible place [the Fleet prison] by an incurable and painful malady, poverty and tatters.
4. To pack or crowd (a number of persons or animals) in close formation, or in a limited space. Also with together.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together
thrumble1513
throng1539
pack1545
serr1562
close1566
frequent1578
thwack1589
contrude1609
crowd1612
serry1639
wedge1720
stuff1728
pig1745
jam1771
condensate1830
wad1850
sardine1895
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xvii. 846 While Greece a heavy, thick Retreat maintains, Wedg'd in one Body like a Flight of Cranes.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. i. 13 The strength of the phalanx depended on sixteen ranks of long pikes, wedged together in the closest array.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iii. 128 Here Zamor ranged his ax-men deep and wide, Wedged like a wall, and thus the king defied.
1844 tr. M. T. Asmar Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 68 The crowd was prodigious. Men, women, and even children were wedged in one dense mass.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) xiv. 465 A dense mass of pilgrims who sit or stand wedged round it.
a1871 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Memorials (1883) I. 8 The 2,000 human figures, wedged in the huge room into one dark mass, were singular to look down upon.
5. intransitive.
a. To become fixed or jammed tight by (or as by) the operation of a wedge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > absence of movement > [verb (intransitive)] > cease to move or become motionless > be arrested or intercepted in progress > by blocking or wedging
wedge1726
jam1885
scotch1898
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 55 Which all wedge together and intersect one another both with equal and unequal Angles.
1893 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 197/2 The men started carefully, holding the saw quite true that later it might not wedge.
b. To force one's way in. Also, to force one's way through a narrow place. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come in [verb (intransitive)] > in unwelcome or unwarranted manner
pressc1390
poach?1536
shovel1540
encroach1555
intrude1573
obtrude1579
wedge1631
interlope1775
to butt in1899
to wade in1905
horn1912
muscle1928
chisel1936
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse iii. iii. 26 in Wks. II This comes of..haunting The Globes, and Mermaides! wedging in with Lords, Still at the table!
1914 M. Findlater & J. Findlater Crossriggs vii. 49 I've never been in quite such a tight place before, but I'll wedge through it in time.
c. to wedge their way, to fly in a wedge-shaped formation, tapering to the front or van. poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > flight > [verb (intransitive)] > in a group
to wedge their way1667
fly1768
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 426 Part loosly wing the Region, part more wise In common, rang'd in figure wedge thir way . View more context for this quotation
6. to wedge out Geology: = to thin out at thin v.1 2a; = to lens out at lens v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [verb (intransitive)] > narrow
to wedge out1819
pinch1867
to lens out1921
1819 [implied in: J. Forbes Geol. Land's-End District (1822) 21 At one point of this natural section, an instructive example of what is called by geologists the wedging out of a bed, is observable. (at wedging n. 4)].
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. 140 Limestone.. can be traced tapering away from a central mass to thin extremities, which really wedge out between the coal grits and the older deposits.
1945 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists 29 1563 The distinction from the Permeability Trap Reservoirs is made by restricting the Pinch-Out Trap Reservoirs to types located in such stratigraphic intervals or zones which actually wedge out.
1966 Earth-Sci. Rev. 1 163 Ignimbrites tend to wedge out against or thin over topographic highs.
1979 Nature 27 Sept. 267/1 These nappes wedge out and converge to the west and seem to represent a telescoping of Lower Palæozoic Facies.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wedgev.2
/wɛdʒ/, U.S. /wɛdʒ/ transitive. To cut (wet clay) into masses and work them by kneading and throwing down, in order to expel air-bubbles.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with clay > work with clay [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
weather1548
wedge1686
tamper1766
puddle1774
pug1843
size1889
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iii. 123 [Potter's clay] is brought to the wageing board, where it is slit into flat thin pieces..; This being done, they wage it, i.e. knead or mould it like bread.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 461 Wedging the clay is a similar process [to that of slapping]... The presser cuts off, with a thin brass wire, a piece of clay from the mass, which he slaps forcibly between the palms of his hands, and then with great violence throws it on the board.
1860 W. White All round Wrekin xxvii. 297 The [pug-]mill, however, continued to work, and in time convinced the men of their stupidity; and now, if a man were ordered to ‘wedge’ his own clay, his answer would be ‘Aw'll stroike first’.
Derivatives
ˈwedging n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with clay > [noun] > specific processes
wedging1686
puddling1790
pugging1843
1686 [see main sense].
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1011 The first of which is called the potter's sloping [1860 (ed. 5) slapping] or wedging.
1860 W. White All round Wrekin xxvii. 297 The clay..is..thrown into the ‘pug-mill’, or ‘wedging-mill’, a large upright cylinder, in which it is forced or screwed gradually downwards, and extruded at the bottom in a continuous cubical mass.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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v.21686- how'how are things or
- how'how are things originally australia
- how'how are things tricks?
- how's about?
- how's it going?
- how's it hanging?
- how's it?
- how's less frequently how are tricks?
- how's life?
- how's that?
- how's things
- how's things new zealand
- how's things or
- how's things originally australia
- how's things tricks?
- how's tricks?
- how, so, or thus far-forth
- how, so, or thus farforth
- how, when, and where
- how-come-ye-so
- how-d'ye do
- how-do-ye
- how-do-you-do
- how-dye
- how-dye-do