vise

¹ American  

[vahys] / vaɪs /

Or vice

noun

1. any of various devices, usually having two jaws that may be brought together or separated by means of a screw, lever, or the like, used to hold an object firmly while work is being done on it.

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verb (used with object)

vised, vising

1. to hold, press, or squeeze with or as with a vise.

visé ² American  

[vee-zey, vee-zey] / ˈvi zeɪ, viˈzeɪ /

noun

viséed, viséing

1. visa.

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vise British  

/ vaɪs /

noun

1. a variant spelling of vice 2

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Other Word Forms

• viselike adjective

Etymology

Origin of vise¹

1300–50; Middle English vis < Old French: screw < Latin vītis vine (whose spiral form gave later sense)

Origin of visé²

< French, past participle of viser to inspect, check; visa

Example Sentences

A vise clamped around my chest, my heart thrashing inside.

From Literature

That relief vanished a moment later when I spotted Salzburg clutching Regan’s arm in a vise grip.

From Literature

When she contracted Asian flu, the virus paralyzed her with “a vise cluster of migraines.”

From Los Angeles Times

The risk: “It will further tighten the fiscal vise,” Gourinchas writes.

From Barron's

State Legislatures are caught in a legal vise.

From The Wall Street Journal