wedge

[wej]

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wedge¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wedge¹

Old English wecg; related to Old Saxon weggi, Old High German wecki, Old Norse veggr wall

Idioms and Phrases

see thin edge of the wedge.

Example Sentences

“The goat was very wedged down in there,” said Cal Fire Engineer Jason Robertson.

From Los Angeles Times

The Charlie Kirk assassination has driven a wedge into the United States’ steep political divide as right-wing pundits take aim at the left.

From Salon

You can choose baby Swiss if you like creamy mildness, but I love the nutty tang of an aged wedge — it lingers just enough to remind you it’s there.

From Salon

In the campaign ahead, Jenkins indicated that she planned to leverage Moody’s support for the state’s unpopular decision to drop school vaccine mandates as a wedge issue.

From Salon

The potential for wedging strategies between Russia and China remains viable due to underlying structural tensions and competing interests, particularly in Central Asia where both powers seek influence.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chunk