WEDGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wedge mean? 

• WEDGE (noun)
  The noun WEDGE has 7 senses:

1. any shape that is triangular in cross section

2. a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States

3. a diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above certain letters (such as the letter c) to indicate pronunciation

4. a heel that is an extension of the sole of the shoe

5. (golf) an iron with considerable loft and a broad sole

6. something solid that is usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that can be pushed between two things to separate them

7. a block of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a heavy object

  Familiarity information: WEDGE used as a noun is common.

• WEDGE (verb)
  The verb WEDGE has 2 senses:

1. put, fix, force, or implant

2. squeeze like a wedge into a tight space

  Familiarity information: WEDGE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WEDGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any shape that is triangular in cross section

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

cuneus; wedge; wedge shape

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

triangle; trigon; trilateral (a three-sided polygon)

Derivation:

wedge (squeeze like a wedge into a tight space)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

bomber; Cuban sandwich; grinder; hero; hero sandwich; hoagie; hoagy; Italian sandwich; poor boy; sub; submarine; submarine sandwich; torpedo; wedge; zep

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

sandwich (two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above certain letters (such as the letter c) to indicate pronunciation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

hacek; wedge

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

diacritic; diacritical mark (a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A heel that is an extension of the sole of the shoe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

wedge; wedge heel

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

heel (the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation)

Holonyms ("wedge" is a part of...):

wedgie (a shoe with a wedge heel)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(golf) an iron with considerable loft and a broad sole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

iron (a golf club that has a relatively narrow metal head)

Domain category:

golf; golf game (a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wedge"):

pitching wedge (a wedge used to loft the golf ball over obstacles)

sand wedge (a wedge used to get out of sand traps)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Something solid that is usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that can be pushed between two things to separate them

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

inclined plane (a simple machine for elevating objects; consists of plane surface that makes an acute angle with the horizontal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wedge"):

ax head; axe head (the cutting head of an ax)

colter; coulter (a sharp steel wedge that precedes the plow and cuts vertically through the soil)

moldboard; mouldboard (wedge formed by the curved part of a steel plow blade that turns the furrow)

ploughshare; plowshare; share (a sharp steel wedge that cuts loose the top layer of soil)

coign; coigne; quoin (expandable metal or wooden wedge used by printers to lock up a form within a chase)

shim (a thin wedge of material (wood or metal or stone) for driving into crevices)

Derivation:

wedge (squeeze like a wedge into a tight space)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A block of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a heavy object

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

chock; wedge

Hypernyms ("wedge" is a kind of...):

block (a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wedge"):

sprag (a chock or bar wedged under a wheel or between the spokes to prevent a vehicle from rolling down an incline)

• WEDGE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wedge    ... he / she / it wedges   
Past simple: wedged   
Past participle: wedged   
-ing form: wedging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put, fix, force, or implant

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

deposit; lodge; stick; wedge

Context example:

stick your thumb in the crack

Hypernyms (to "wedge" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wedge"):

redeposit (deposit anew)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They wedge the books into the box

Sense 2

Meaning:

Squeeze like a wedge into a tight space

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

force; squeeze; wedge

Context example:

I squeezed myself into the corner

Hypernyms (to "wedge" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wedge"):

impact (press or wedge together; pack together)

compact; compress; pack together (make more compact by or as if by pressing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

wedge (something solid that is usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that can be pushed between two things to separate them)

wedge (any shape that is triangular in cross section)

 Context examples 

Insert the wedge into the Prerogative Office, and the country would cease to be glorious.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You see we have been wedging one leg with paper.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It was but a stone, wedged between frog and shoe in the off fore-foot, but it was a minute or two before we could wrench it out.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The head is shaped as a blunt wedge and the jaws are powerful.

(Karelian Bear Dog, NCI Thesaurus)

His precious valise was wedged in beside him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They have a kind of hard flints, which, by grinding against other stones, they form into instruments, that serve instead of wedges, axes, and hammers.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"Then I'll break his neck," Scott retorted, continuing his shoving and wedging with the revolver muzzle.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Between these two formidable assailants the seamen were being slowly wedged more closely together, until they stood back to back under the mast with the rovers raging upon every side of them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Squirrels were chattering, birds singing, and overhead honked the wild-fowl driving up from the south in cunning wedges that split the air.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I proceeded to experiment, lashing and wedging the steering-oar until the boat held on fairly well by the wind without my assistance.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)