spanner
a person or thing that spans.
Also called spanner wrench . a wrench having a curved head with a hook or pin at one end for engaging notches or holes in collars, certain kinds of nuts, etc.: Compare pin wrench.
Chiefly British. a wrench, especially one with fixed jaws.
Origin of spanner
1Words Nearby spanner
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use spanner in a sentence
Regulators in other countries could also put a spanner in the works.
Nvidia’s Arm Acquisition Brings the Two Key Technologies of This Century Under One Roof | Edd Gent | September 21, 2020 | Singularity HubThe Daily Pic: Her "appropriations" of August Sander throw a spanner in art's works.
When C is almost as tight as it can be made, it is held by one spanner, while B is turned back through a small angle with another.
An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design | David Allan LowThe spanner caught him on the shoulder, and he grunted in pain, but he kept on moving away from Mellon.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall GarrettBehind him were Chief Multhaus, also armed with a stun gun, and four members of the power crew, each armed with a heavy spanner.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall Garrett
He was working at it with a spanner when O'Donoghue, breathless and in a bad temper, came up with him.
The Simpkins Plot | George A. BirminghamAlways have a spanner sticking out of a pocket, and a hunk of bread and cheese tied up in a coloured handkerchief in our hands.
Two Daring Young Patriots | W. P. Shervill
British Dictionary definitions for spanner
/ (ˈspænə) /
a steel hand tool with a handle carrying jaws or a hole of particular shape designed to grip a nut or bolt head
British informal a source of impediment or annoyance (esp in the phrase throw a spanner in the works)
Origin of spanner
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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