wedge

American  

[wej] / wɛdʒ /

noun

• wedges
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• wedges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wedged,
  past participle,  past
• wedging
  present participle

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)

• wedges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wedged,
  past participle,  past
• wedging
  present participle

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

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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.

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Regionalisms

See hero sandwich.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wedges
  plural

Participles

• wedging
  present
• wedged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wedge
  simple
• wedges
  simple
• have wedged
  perfect
• has wedged
  perfect
• am wedging
  progressive
• are wedging
  progressive
• is wedging
  progressive
• have been wedging
  perfect progressive
• has been wedging
  perfect progressive

Past

• wedged
  simple
• had wedged
  perfect
• was wedging
  progressive
• were wedging
  progressive
• had been wedging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wedge
  simple
• will have wedged
  perfect
• will be wedging
  progressive
• will have been wedging
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

wedge wedges wedged wedging

He added that producers had "to be careful", though, "that this is not the thin end of a wedge where we cut things out".

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

The Shahed—a deceptively simple and destructive flying wedge of fiberglass, microchips and explosives costing as little as $20,000—helps show how weapons proliferation has changed, and why tapping global supply chains is now so important.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Even when Johnson produced a modest wedge shot, as he did on the 11th, he holed the putt from off the green to get to 18 under and place one hand on the inaugural trophy.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

What forged McElwee’s passion and helped him establish his life’s work now reveals its dual nature as the wedge that kept him and Adrian apart.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

The wedge between my former best friend and me is pretty deep.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Substituting raw wedges of tomato, which far too often can be floury and tasteless, for slow roasted plum tomatoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Zooming through the air in a flying Sky-Sled, he wedges his face into a triple chin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

For a little extra flair toast some baguette wedges to dip into the savory mixture.

From Salon ● May 22, 2026

"It was really nice to see some good wedges go my way, and knock in some of the nice six- and eight-foot putts that you have to."

From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026

He fastens the lock on the knob for good measure, then wedges the book on a high shelf between two volumes of the Hardy Boys.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

The interviewees who didn’t want to be filmed are played by actors, including executive producer Emma Thompson wedged between an undercarriage and pavement as the unidentified van protester.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

In Taipei, temples are everywhere, wedged between shops and apartment blocks, their incense smoke wafting into busy intersections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

Taken together, we see hope and its absence wedged in the backseat.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

The excessive fines clause is the neglected middle child of the Eighth Amendment, wedged between excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment, and almost never litigated.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

She kicked her leg out and wedged the toe of her shoe between the door and the frame at the last minute.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Artificial intelligence boosters spent the year wedging the tech into our lives – whether we wanted it or not.

From Slate ● Jan. 2, 2026

Owens and her family saved the house, wedging plywood underneath the doorways during the storm and mopping up water faster than it seeped inside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025

Davila allegedly interfered with the arrest by wedging herself in front of the officer and saying, “Let him go!” and, “Get out,” according to the release.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025

"If you can, then do it because you opening that door, wedging in that door stop, means that other people can walk through after you," she added.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2025

After locking the door securely by wedging a stone in the brace, I carry the vegetable to my outdoor kitchen and start off for the tree house and Alice.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• chunk