n. [ OE. wegge, AS. wecg; akin to D. wig, wigge, OHG. wecki, G. weck a (wedge-shaped) loaf, Icel. veggr, Dan. vægge, 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 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Wedged p. pr. & vb. n. Wedging. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a wedge; to rive. “My heart, as wedged with a sigh, would rive in twain.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To force or drive as a wedge is driven. [ 1913 Webster ]

Among the crowd in the abbey where a finger
Could not be wedged in more. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He 's just the sort of man to wedge himself into a snug berth. Mrs. J. H. Ewing. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to wedge one's way. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a wedge that is driven into something. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wedged in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber in its place. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Pottery) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Tomlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An Australian crested insessorial bird (Sphenostoma cristatum) having a wedge-shaped bill. Its color is dull brown, like the earth of the plains where it lives. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the form of a wedge; cuneiform. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wedge-formed characters,
Wedge-shaped characters. See Arrow-headed characters, under Arrowheaded, and cf. cuneiform. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

{ or }. A wedge with a graduated edge, to measure the width of a space into which it is thrust. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A friction gear wheel with wedge-shaped circumferential grooves. -- Wedge gearing. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Having the shape of a wedge; cuneiform. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Broad and truncate at the summit, and tapering down to the base; as, a wedge-shaped leaf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of small marine bivalves belonging to Donax and allied genera in which the shell is wedge-shaped. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under Wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wedge-tailed eagle, an Australian eagle (Aquila audax) which feeds on various small species of kangaroos, and on lambs; -- called also mountain eagle, bold eagle, and eagle hawk. --
Wedge-tailed gull, an arctic gull (Rhodostethia rosea) in which the plumage is tinged with rose; -- called also Ross's gull. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the manner of a wedge. [ 1913 Webster ]