Category: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.)

Defn: 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 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)

Defn: to cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing Together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Tomlinson.