- Wedge
- Wedge Wedge (w[e^]j), n. [OE. wegge, AS. wecg; akin to D. wig,
wigge, OHG. wecki, G. weck a (wedge-shaped) loaf, Icel.
veggr, Dan. v[ae]gge, Sw. vigg, and probably to Lith. vagis a
peg. Cf. {Wigg}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A piece of metal, or other hard material, thick at one
end, and tapering to a thin edge at the other, used in
splitting wood, rocks, etc., in raising heavy bodies, and
the like. It is one of the six elementary machines called
the mechanical powers. See Illust. of {Mechanical powers},
under {Mechanical}.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Geom.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends. [1913 Webster]
3. A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form. ``Wedges of gold.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]
4. Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn up in such a form. [1913 Webster]
In warlike muster they appear, In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
5. The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos; -- so called after a person (Wedgewood) who occupied this position on the first list of 1828. [Cant, Cambridge Univ., Eng.] --C. A. Bristed. [1913 Webster]
6. (Golf) A golf club having an iron head with the face nearly horizontal, used for lofting the golf ball at a high angle, as when hitting the ball out of a sand trap or the rough. [PJC]
{Fox wedge}. (Mach. & Carpentry) See under {Fox}.
{Spherical wedge} (Geom.), the portion of a sphere included between two planes which intersect in a diameter. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
