Adjacent Words

Spherical wedge definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wedge Wedge, 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.] 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. 2. (Geom.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends. 3. A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form. ``Wedges of gold.'' --Shak. 4. Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn up in such a form. In warlike muster they appear, In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. --Milton. 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. Fox wedge. (Mach. & Carpentry) See under Fox. Spherical wedge (Geom.), the portion of a sphere included between two planes which intersect in a diameter.