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

Where one sees an opportunity to hit a lob wedge, another will hit a bump-and-run.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

It also said it would spend $8 billion over 10 years on four other wedge strategies: solar, wind, hydrogen and natural gas.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

When he returned, his six-iron shot came up short and back down the hill, he chunked his wedge and his U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

On the upside, a peak was signaled by a bearish dark cloud cover, which also coincided with the development of a rising wedge beginning in February 2025.

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026

Perhaps in time it would come to seem rugged, this chin like a wedge of cheese.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

She wedges garbage cans into corners to prevent flipping, and warns her guests not to leave their coats within Stella’s reach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 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

Standing around a kitchen island with a small group of other food writers, I pull on a pair of plastic gloves and begin massaging a bright red paste into wedges of cabbage.

From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2025

She filled six baskets with crocks of butter and big wedges of stinky cheese wrapped in cloth.

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

Kolster stayed wedged between the front door and the stone wall in her seventh-storey apartment "for quite a while" before she heard neighbours calling for people to evacuate.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

A ridge of high pressure drawing hot air from North Africa is wedged between two areas of low pressure, one in central Europe and the other off the coast of Portugal.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

First Cabin is on the 14th floor of the Waikiki Business Plaza, itself wedged between H&M and Lululemon on Honolulu’s main drag, Kalakaua Avenue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

The outlet shared video from the scene that showed parts of a scooter wedged underneath one of the disabled vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026

He took the last, soggy slice of pizza, an apple, and a raspberry-lime flavored seltzer to an empty table wedged between the emergency exit and a row of garbage and recycling cans.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

So, they used their single off day on a three-city East Coast trip to make a pit stop in Washington, wedging the visit between games against the Phillies and Mets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

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

"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

She pulled him behind the nearest boulder, wedging herself so close against the riverbank that her shoes almost touched the river’s fire.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• chunk