(n.) The lock of a fusee or carbine; also, the fusee or carbine itself.
(n.) An iron instrument having a jaw to fit a nut or the head of a bolt, and used as a lever to turn it with; a wrench; specifically, a wrench for unscrewing or tightening the couplings of hose.
(n.) A contrivance in some of the ealier steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.
Example Sentences:
(1) An open-ended torque release spanner was set for 0.9 Newton-metres for clinical use such that the compressive load is sufficient to prevent pull-out even in the unlikely event of 60 lb being applied for up to 21 days.
(2) Another spanner in the Brotherhood's works was the recent decision by the supreme constitutional court to dissolve parliament, in which it was the majority bloc through its political arm, the Freedom and Justice party.
(3) 9.07pm GMT Final score: Panthers 21-20 Falcons For a moment it appeared as though the Falcons were about to throw a spanner in the works, driving up to near midfield with 30 seconds left to play.
(4) And despite what he says, it would be very tough for him to beat her.” Clinton spent last summer fighting accusations of inappropriate use of a personal email server during her time as secretary of state, an issue that threw an unexpected spanner in what was initially seen as a clear path to the nomination.
(5) Fulham thought they'd secured the striker's scrawl, but it now seems that Big Sam might be on the verge of throwing a spanner in the works.
(6) He thinks the party’s current stance on solving 21st-century problems is as outdated as “trying to overhaul an Apple MacBook with a spanner” and says decisions should be made by members networked via the internet rather than in local party meetings in draughty church halls.
(7) Fittingly, most traces of this Michael Green’s HowToCorp company have since been erased from cyberspace, perhaps by his own software, jammed in reverse gear with an imaginary spanner.
(8) If this is the tone in which the UK proceeds, then throwing spanners in May’s works will be irresistible to many of them.
(9) "Kim Dotcom could throw a real spanner in the works of this year's general election," Bryce Edwards, a political commentator and lecturer at the University of Otago, wrote on his blog.
(10) Barclays' decision threatens to throw a spanner in the works as Somalia embarks on reconstruction.
(11) "Coalition government and Ukip have thrown spanners in the old assumptions," says Sanders.
(12) A Scandal in Bohemia opens with Conan Doyle sidelining feeling as "grit in a sensitive instrument", a spanner in the works of the world's "most perfect reasoning and observing machine".
(13) 7 Get a spanner Things are going to go wrong much more often, so expect mini-disasters.
(14) Two series of bivalent ligands (P-X-P) containing the (R,S)-3-[(4-aminoaryl)oxy]-1-(isopropylamino)propan-2-ol pharmacophore and a connecting alpha,omega-dicarbonylpoly(methylene) [X = -OC(CH2)nCO-] or alpha,omega-N,N'-bis(carbonylmethylene) polymethylenediamine [X = -OCCH2NH(CH2)nNHCH2CO-] spanner were synthesized and evaluated for beta-adrenoceptor antagonist activity in rat heart and lung membrane preparations.
(15) But there's another, easier way of establishing whether someone is two spanners short of a tool box.
(16) There’s a social stigma, too.” The design of the new devices, from masculine chrome pipes like luxury motorbike spanners to delicate diamanté bling-sticks, helps, too.
(17) In short, they are all much better riders than me and calmly slide out of their saddles at the end of the day while I limp off as if I have been sitting on a bag of spanners.
(18) More self-harm to report: a single decision with the potential to devastate the finances of millions, blight some of the poorest communities in the developing world and throw a spanner in the workings of our aid agencies.
(19) The data suggest that further increases in spanner length and lipophilicity and optical resolution may improve the potential of a labeled bivalent beta 1-adrenoceptor antagonist to function as a myocardial imaging agent.
(20) Jack Lang (@snap_kaka_pop) Potential spanner in the works for Everton?
Wrench
Definition:
(v. t.) Trick; deceit; fraud; stratagem.
(v. t.) A violent twist, or a pull with twisting.
(v. t.) A sprain; an injury by twisting, as in a joint.
(v. t.) Means; contrivance.
(v. t.) An instrument, often a simple bar or lever with jaws or an angular orifice either at the end or between the ends, for exerting a twisting strain, as in turning bolts, nuts, screw taps, etc.; a screw key. Many wrenches have adjustable jaws for grasping nuts, etc., of different sizes.
(v. t.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench.
(n.) To pull with a twist; to wrest, twist, or force by violence.
(n.) To strain; to sprain; hence, to distort; to pervert.
Example Sentences:
(1) Bamu also beat him, taking a pair of pliers and wrenching his ear.
(2) She lives in Holland Park and welcomes visitors with a gusty wrench of the door and a jubilant "hello".
(3) Goldsmith, following in the footsteps of his father , who started the rabid anti-EU referendum campaign, is for a hard Brexit, wrenching us away as brutally and damagingly as possible.
(4) In one email, an aide suggests she should “toss a wrench at someone”.
(5) The fact that they cannot afford to do so can be gut-wrenching.
(6) So it will have been a wrench for Jez, and his embattled entourage, to have to “cave in”, as the Guardian’s report put it, and suspend the MP from the party after David Cameron (who really should leave the rough stuff to the rough end of the trade) had taunted him at PMQs for not acting sooner when the Guido Fawkes blog republished her ugly comments and the Mail on Sunday got out its trumpet.
(7) But if you read carefully, Roberts did throw a wrench into the NSA's main defense for what it does: self-policing.
(8) "The pictures that we are seeing in Gaza and in Israel are heart-wrenching."
(9) Everybody is happy.” Fortunately for Villa, the fact Hull lost 2-0 at Tottenham meant their safety was assured a few hours later – welcome news to the Villa manager Tim Sherwood after a gut-wrenching first half.
(10) We are continuing to see heart wrenching reports of sexual abuse and assault, self-harm and hopelessness of refugees detained on Nauru and Manus Island with over 2,000 people left to languish in detention,” Szoke said.
(11) Mr Vine said: "Some time ago I decided I would have to leave Newsnight if I went to Radio 2 and that's a wrench, but no journalist could turn down such a magnificent offer from what is the UK's most successful radio station.
(12) I recall the sense of dismay I felt that morning when watching the first plane hit and how that morphed, when the second plane came less than twenty minutes later, into a gut-wrenching realization that this was no accident.
(13) No parent, hearing the voices of those still seeking news of their children, could fail to imagine the frantic play of hope and despair, the terrible wrenching of attachment.
(14) I decided it would do to convey a mixture of can-you-believe-it crossness and wrenching disappointment, selected it, added zilch and pressed send.
(15) Wrenching forces exerted on the cervical spine are attenuated, and the face is protected from contact with hard or lacerating surfaces.
(16) This throws a monkey wrench into the licensing process.
(17) 'A tremendous wrench': Sir Ivan Rogers's resignation email in full Read more He wrote: “I hope you will continue to challenge ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking and that you will never be afraid to speak the truth to those in power.
(18) The two cases herein described manifest unusual and distinctive injuries resulting from multiple impacts by adjustable crescent wrenches.
(19) He could take the most pitiful souls – his CV was populated almost exclusively by snivelling wretches, insufferable prigs, braggarts and outright bullies – and imbue each of them with a wrenching humanity.
(20) Their 18-year relationship made a gut-wrenching but fascinating public story, which began with romantic passion, high hopes and an elopement to Spain.