wedge

UK: /ˈwɛdʒ/ US: /wɛdʒ/ ,(wej)

Inflections of 'wedge' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

wedges

v 3rd person singular

wedging

v pres p

wedged

v past

wedged

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wedge /wɛdʒ/   n., v., wedged, wedg•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. a triangular piece of hard material used for raising, holding, or splitting objects:
   He put a wedge under the door to prop it open.
2. something shaped like a wedge, as a cuneiform character.
3. something that serves to part, split, or divide:
   She tried to drive a wedge between the two friends by whispering rumors.

v. [~ + object]

4. to split with or as if with a wedge.
5. to insert or fix firmly with a wedge:
   to wedge a door open.
6. to pack tightly into a narrow space:
   to wedge clothes into a suitcase.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wedge  (wej), n., v., wedged, wedg•ing. 
n. 

1. a piece of hard material with two principal faces meeting in a sharply acute angle, for raising, holding, or splitting objects by applying a pounding or driving force, as from a hammer. Cf. machine (def. 3b).
2. a piece of anything of like shape:
   a wedge of pie.
3. a cuneiform character or stroke of this shape.
4. Meteorology (formerly) an elongated area of relatively high pressure.
5. something that serves to part, split, divide, etc.:
   The quarrel drove a wedge into the party organization.
6. Military (formerly) a tactical formation generally in the form of aVwith the point toward the enemy.
7. Sport [Golf.] a club with an iron head the face of which is nearly horizontal, for lofting the ball, esp. out of sand traps and high grass.
8. Optics See optical wedge. 
9. Phonetics haček.
10. Dialect Terms [Chiefly Coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island.] a hero sandwich.
11. Clothing a wedge heel or shoe with such a heel.

v.t. 
12. to separate or split with or as if with a wedge (often fol. by open, apart, etc.):
    to wedge open a log.
13. to insert or fix with a wedge.
14. to pack or fix tightly:
    to wedge clothes into a suitcase.
15. to thrust, drive, fix, etc., like a wedge:
    He wedged himself through the narrow opening.
16. [Ceram.] to pound (clay) in order to remove air bubbles.
17. to fell or direct the fall of (a tree) by driving wedges into the cut made by the saw.

v.i. 
18. to force a way like a wedge (usually fol. by in, into, through, etc.):
    The box won't wedge into such a narrow space.
• bef. 900; Middle English wegge (noun, nominal), Old English wecg; cognate with dialect, dialectal German Weck (Old High German wecki), Old Norse veggr
wedge′like′, adj. 
Synonyms
• 14. cram, jam, stuff, crowd, squeeze.
Regional Variation
10. See hero sandwich. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wedge / wɛdʒ/ noun

1. a block of solid material, esp wood or metal, that is shaped like a narrow V in cross section and can be pushed or driven between two objects or parts of an object in order to split or secure them
2. any formation, structure, or substance in the shape of a wedge
3. something such as an idea, action, etc, that tends to cause division
4. a shoe with a wedge heel
5. a club with a face angle of more than 50°, used for bunker shots (sand wedge) or pitch shots (pitching wedge)
6. (formerly) a body of troops formed in a V-shape
7. thin end of the wedge ⇒ anything unimportant in itself that implies the start of something much larger

verb

1. (transitive) to secure with or as if with a wedge
2. to squeeze or be squeezed like a wedge into a narrow space
3. (transitive) to force apart or divide with or as if with a wedge

Etymology: Old English wecg; related to Old Saxon weggi, Old High German wecki, Old Norse veggr wall

ˈwedgeˌlike adjective

ˈwedgy adjective