English Explanatory Dictionary

spanner

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts.
  2. Any of certain types of such a tool that have a pin or hook to engage the driven object.
  3. One who, or that which, spans.
  4. A (usually sparse) graph whose shortest path distances approximate those in a dense graph or other metric space.
  5. A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket.
  6. A device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.
  7. A problem, dilemma or obstacle; something unexpected or troublesome (in the phrase spanner in the works)
  8. A stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language.
verb
  1. To use a spanner; to fix with a spanner

Pronunciation

/ˈspæn.ə/ en-au-spanner.ogg /ˈspæn.ɚ/ en-us-spanner.ogg /ˈspeə̯n.ɚ/ /ˈspɛə̯n.ɚ/

Word forms

spanner spanners spannering spannered

Etymology

From span + -er.

Synonyms

wrench

Derived words

adjustable spanner bobbejaan spanner crescent spanner dog bone spanner put a spanner in the works ring spanner shifting spanner spanner barb spanner crab spannered spanner in the works spannerless spanner wrench spider spanner throw a spanner in the works throw a spanner into the works torque spanner

Translations

Albanian: çelës Arabic: مِفْتَاح رَبْط Arabic: كالمونط Armenian: մանեկադարձիչ Armenian: պտուտակաբանալի Azerbaijani: açar Azerbaijani: qayka açarı Bashkir: асҡыс Belarusian: ключ Bengali: প্লাস Bengali: সাঁড়াশিবিশেষ Bulgarian: ключ Burmese: ကဏန်းလက်မ Catalan: clau anglesa Chinese Cantonese: 士巴拿 Chinese Mandarin: 扳手 Chinese Mandarin: 扳子 Wu Chinese: 扳頭 /扳头 Wu Chinese: 扳手 Czech: klíč Danish: fastnøgle Danish: svensknøgle Danish: skiftenøgle Dutch: steeksleutel Dutch: sleutel Esperanto: boltilo Estonian: mutrivõti Estonian: võti Finnish: kiintoavain Finnish: jakoavain French: clef à écrous French: clef French: clé French: serre-écrou French: clé de serrage Galician: chave Georgian: ქანჩგასაღები Georgian: ქანჩის გასაღები Georgian: გასაღები German: Schraubenschlüssel German: Schlüssel Greek: κλειδί Hausa: sufana Hebrew: מַפתֵחַ בְּרָגִים Hindi: पाना Hungarian: franciakulcs Hungarian: villáskulcs Hungarian: csavarkulcs Icelandic: skrúflykill Icelandic: skiptilykill Indonesian: kunci pas Indonesian: sepanar Irish: castaire Irish: rinse Italian: chiave Italian: chiave inglese Japanese: スパナ Japanese: レンチ Kazakh: сомын кілті Kazakh: кілт Khmer: សោ Korean: 스패너 Korean: 렌치 Kyrgyz: гайка ачкычы Kyrgyz: ачкыч Lao: ປະແຈ Latvian: atslēga Lithuanian: raktas
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