wedge

American  

[wej] / wɛdʒ /

noun

1. a piece of hard material with two principal faces meeting in a sharply acute angle, for raising, holding, or splitting objects by applying a pounding or driving force, as from a hammer.

2. a piece of anything of like shape.

   a wedge of pie.

3. a cuneiform character or stroke of this shape.

4. Meteorology. (formerly) an elongated area of relatively high pressure.

5. something that serves to part, split, divide, etc..

   The quarrel drove a wedge into the party organization.

6. Military. (formerly) a tactical formation generally in the form of a V with the point toward the enemy.

7. Golf. a club with an iron head the face of which is nearly horizontal, for lofting the ball, especially out of sand traps and high grass.

8. Optics. optical wedge.

9. haček.

10. Chiefly Coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island. a hero sandwich.

11. a wedge heel or shoe with such a heel.

---

verb (used with object)

wedged, wedging

1. to separate or split with or as if with a wedge (often followed by open, apart, etc.).

   to wedge open a log.

2. to insert or fix with a wedge.

3. to pack or fix tightly.

   to wedge clothes into a suitcase.

   Synonyms:

   squeeze, crowd, stuff, jam, cram

4. to thrust, drive, fix, etc., like a wedge.

   He wedged himself through the narrow opening.

5. Ceramics. to pound (clay) in order to remove air bubbles.

6. to fell or direct the fall of (a tree) by driving wedges into the cut made by the saw.

verb (used without object)

wedged, wedging

1. to force a way like a wedge (usually followed by in, into, through, etc.).

   The box won't wedge into such a narrow space.

wedge British  

/ wɛdʒ /

noun

1. a block of solid material, esp wood or metal, that is shaped like a narrow V in cross section and can be pushed or driven between two objects or parts of an object in order to split or secure them

2. any formation, structure, or substance in the shape of a wedge

   a wedge of cheese

3. something such as an idea, action, etc, that tends to cause division

4. a shoe with a wedge heel

5. golf a club with a face angle of more than 50°, used for bunker shots ( sand wedge ) or pitch shots ( pitching wedge )

6. a wedge-shaped extension of the high pressure area of an anticyclone, narrower than a ridge

7. mountaineering a wedge-shaped device, formerly of wood, now usually of hollow steel, for hammering into a crack to provide an anchor point

8. any of the triangular characters used in cuneiform writing

9. (formerly) a body of troops formed in a V-shape

10. photog a strip of glass coated in such a way that it is clear at one end but becomes progressively more opaque towards the other end: used in making measurements of transmission density

11. slang a bribe

12. anything unimportant in itself that implies the start of something much larger

---

verb

1. (tr) to secure with or as if with a wedge

2. to squeeze or be squeezed like a wedge into a narrow space

3. (tr) to force apart or divide with or as if with a wedge

wedge Idioms  

1. see thin edge of the wedge.

---

Regionalisms

See hero sandwich.

Other Word Forms

• unwedge
  verb (used with object)
• wedgelike
  adjective
• wedgy
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of wedge

before 900; Middle English wegge (noun), Old English wecg; cognate with dialectal German Weck ( Old High German wecki ), Old Norse veggr

Explanation

A wedge is a block of wood that keeps a door propped open, or a problem that pulls people apart, like the jealousy that drove a wedge between two friends. Wedge means "triangle-shaped." Pieces of pie are wedges. So are tortilla chips. In some parts of the country, a sandwich on a long roll is called a wedge, or a wedgie, while in other places, it's a hoagie or sub. As a verb, wedge means to squeeze something into a tight space, like the way you might wedge your history textbook into your already stuffed backpack.

Example Sentences

Wedge said he had seen his mother since, adding that she had been "very panicked" at the time.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

Wedge a drop cloth or some newspapers on the floor underneath, and expect to apply one to two thorough coats.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2022

State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said the agency has been investigating the wolf deaths within the Wedge pack territory in Stevens County since local authorities found four dead wolves Feb. 18.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2022

Surfers in Southern California flocked to the beaches for the high waves, especially Newport Beach’s Wedge, known for its intense swells.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2022

"Wedge," Tyrion commanded as his men streamed out of the sally port.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• chunk