Wedge Meaning
/wɛd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounOne of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering.
nounA piece (of food, metal, wood etc.) having this shape.
Sentence Examples
The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines.
More painful than any wedge.
Yanni's definition of help drove a wedge between him and Skura.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He had to ____ the heavy door open with a block of wood to let air in.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a wooden ____ to stop the heavy door from closing while he was moving several pieces of furniture today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It is one of the ironies of capital cities that each acts as a symbol of its nation, and yet few are even remotely representative of it. London has always set itself apart from the rest of Britain — but political, economic and social trends are conspiring to drive that wedge deeper."
— 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
"She was wearing wedges, and I have a horrible suspicion they were her mum's wedges left over from the last century."
— 2010, Sue Limb, Girls, Guilty But Somehow Glorious:
"Open the Males, yet guard the treaſure ſure.
Lay out our golden wedges to the view,
That their reflexions may amaze the Perſeans."
— c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
"She hoped it wasn't a meatball wedge, because there's so much garlic in school meatballs that it might make my breath smell and knock the agent out of his chair."
— 1983, Marlene Fanta Shyer, Adorable Sunday, Scholastic:
"Most people realize there are a lot of different names for that type of sandwich, so Scalone wondered what was so funny about wedge?"
— 2019 October 10, Mark Lungariello, “It's called a wedge in Westchester: Not a hoagie, sub or a grinder”, in The Journal News:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He had to ____ the heavy door open with a block of wood to let air in.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used a wooden ____ to stop the heavy door from closing while he was moving several pieces of furniture today.