n. 1. A wrench having a hook, hole, or pin at the end for meshing with a related device on another object. 2. Chiefly British A wrench. [German, winding tool, from spannen, to stretch, from Middle High German, from Old High German spannan; see (s)pen- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.