WEDGE


Meaning of WEDGE in English

I. wedge 1 /wedʒ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: wecg ]

1 . a piece of wood, metal etc that has one thick edge and one pointed edge and is used especially for keeping a door open or for splitting wood

2 . a piece of food shaped like a wedge:

Garnish with lemon wedges.

wedge of

a wedge of cheese

3 . drive a wedge between somebody to make the relationship between two people or groups worse:

Their divorce has driven a wedge between the two families.

⇨ the thin end of the wedge at ↑ thin 1 (11)

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:

Could I have another piece of cake?

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a piece of broken glass

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Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.

▪ bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:

The notes were written on bits of paper.

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He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.

▪ lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:

two lumps of sugar

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a lump of coal

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a lump of clay

▪ scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:

I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.

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The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.

▪ strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:

a strip of cloth

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The leather had been cut into strips.

▪ sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:

a blank sheet of paper

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a sheet of aluminium

▪ slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:

a slice of pizza

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Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.

▪ chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:

The fruit was cut into large chunks.

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a chunk of bread

▪ hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:

a big hunk of cheese

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hunks of concrete

▪ block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:

concrete blocks

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a block of cheese

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a block of ice

▪ slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:

The floor had been made from stone slabs.

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a slab of beef

▪ cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:

a cube of sugar

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ice cubes

▪ wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a ↑ triangle – used especially about food and metal:

a wedge of cheese

▪ bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:

a chocolate bar

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a bar of soap

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gold bars worth more than £26 million

▪ rasher British English a slice of bacon:

I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.

II. wedge 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive always + adverb/preposition]

1 . to force something firmly into a narrow space:

The phone was wedged under his chin.

Victoria wedged herself into the passenger seat.

2 . wedge something open/shut to put something under a door, window etc to make it stay open or shut

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.