See Also: wedge(1)(dictionary)
Wedge(finance)
Wedge(money)
wedge(encyclopedia)
wedge(dictionary)
wedge(2)(dictionary)
Wedge(medicine)
wedge bone(medicine)
wedge pressure(medicine)
wedge resection(medicine)

wedge(1) (iou)



wedge noun. See also WODGE.

A piece of wood, metal, etc., which has a narrow triangular cross-section and is driven between two objects or parts of an object to split, tighten, or secure them, or to widen an opening etc.; Mechanics this considered as a simple machine, now regarded as a variety of the inclined plane. OE.
Traditional Woodworking Assemble the joint, tapping the wedge into position.
b. Architecture. A voussoir. E18.
a. An ingot of gold, silver, etc. (perh. orig. in the form of a wedge). OE-E18.
b. Silver money or plate. slang (now rare). E18.
fig. A thing acting as a wedge; esp. something creating a split or divide. L16.
the thin end of the wedge a relatively insignificant change, action, measure, etc., which promises or threatens to open the way to further more serious changes or consequences.
Economist To make a bid for..power by driving a wedge between the parties of the..coalition.
A lump or cake of any solid substance. Now rare or dial. L16.
b. A wad of banknotes; (a significant amount of) money. slang (orig. Criminals'). L20.
A thing resembling a wedge in shape or form; a wedge-shaped part or piece of anything; spec. (a) a formation of people (formerly esp. of troops) tapering towards the front, in order to drive a way through opposition; a similar formation adopted by birds, esp. geese, in flight; (b) the wedge-shaped stroke in cuneiform characters; (c) Meteorology = RIDGE noun1 3b; (d) a V-shaped sign or symbol used in various musical and other notations; (e) Golf a golf club with a wedge-shaped head, used for lofting the ball at approach shots or out of a bunker etc.; a shot made with such a club; (f) a wedge-shaped heel (also wedge-heel); a shoe with such a heel (also wedge-shoe); (g) a hairstyle in which the ends of the hair are slightly graduated to form a series of wedges. E17.
V. Glendinning The monumental wedge of chocolate cake. attrib.: Time Out The police..adopting their familiar flying wedge formation to break up the picket.
Geometry. A triangular prism; a simple solid formed by cutting a triangular prism by any two planes. Also (in full spherical wedge), a solid formed by two planes meeting along the axis of a sphere. E18.
Heraldry. A charge consisting of an isosceles triangle with a very acute angle at its vertex. E18.
Comb.: wedgebill a bird with a wedge-shaped bill, as (a) an Australian logrunner, Sphenostoma cristatum, which has an upright crest; (b) a hummingbird, Schistes geoffroyi, of Central and S. America; wedge-form, wedge-formed adjectives wedge-shaped; wedge-heel: see sense 5(f) above; wedge issue US a divisive political issue, esp. one that is raised by a candidate for public office in the hope of attracting or alienating an opponent's supporters; wedge photometer: in which the illumination reaching two sides of a wedge of glass from different sources is compared; wedge-shaped adjective (a) shaped like a solid wedge, cuneiform; (b) Botany = CUNEATE; wedge shell (a shell of) any of various marine bivalves of the genus Donax and family Donacidae, which have generally triangular shells; wedge-shoe: see sense 5(f) above; wedgetail Austral. = wedge-tailed eagle below; wedge-tailed adjective having a wedge-shaped tail; wedge-tailed eagle, a large eagle, Aquila audax, which is found throughout Australia; wedge tent an A tent.
wedgelike adjective wedge-shaped; resembling a wedge: L16.
wedgewise adverb after the manner or in the form of a wedge M16.
wedgy adjective (rare) resembling a wedge; wedge-shaped: L18.