monkey wrench

monkey wrench

1. A hand tool with adjustable jaws for turning nuts of varying sizes.

2. Informal Something that disrupts: He threw a monkey wrench into our plans.

[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

monkey wrench

(Tools) a wrench with adjustable jaws

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mon′key wrench`

1. a wrench having an adjustable jaw for grasping nuts of different sizes.

2. something that interferes.

Monkey wrench

One of the few types of wrenches found on most early-twentieth-century farms. Its jaws were at right angles to the handle. One jaw was adjustable. The other, much heavier and at the end of the handle, was often used as a hammer. Charles Moncky apparently invented the wrench sometime before 1860.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

monkey wrench - adjustable wrench that has one fixed and one adjustable jaw

monkey-wrench

adjustable spanner, adjustable wrench - an adjustable tool for gripping hexagonal nuts, with an adjustings crew in the head of the implement

Translations

Engländer Franzose

clé anglaise

chiave inglese

monkey wrench

n → chiave f inglese a rullino

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

We were treated to a drum solo by Taylor Hawkins before the band rolled out anthems such as Monkey Wrench and This is a Call.

THE FOO FIGHTERS

After being hit over the head with a monkey wrench by Stacey to stop him trying to strangle her husband Martin, Phil woke up in Walford General, conveniently unable to remember who had attacked him.

Is the Kat out of the bag? EASTENDERS BBC1

Far Eastern University made sure of that on Sunday night after pulling out a come-from-behind 25-22, 13-25, 15-25, 27-25, 15-8 victory over the Lady Spikers that threw a monkey wrench in La Salle's twice-to-beat bid in the UAAP women's volleyball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Still up in the air

He lamented that there was "always a monkey wrench" in government transactions.

Gov't aims to reduce power interruptions in Palawan before end of 2019

The pair had to chose between monkey wrench, crowfoot wrench or mole wrench.

This question saw a Liverpool couple blow [pounds sterling]50,000 on Channel 4's [pounds sterling]100k drop; It looked like Dionne and Ray were going to make it all the way - but then this question came up

Full marks once again to Chief Justice Saqib Nisar for suspending the LHC decision ordering revision of candidates nomination papers that all but put a monkey wrench in the works as far as timely elections were concerned.

SC, nomination papers, and the vote

"I think for him, with Jon and Dany getting together, this represents a possible undermining of his position with her and also a monkey wrench thrown into what the master plan really is meant to be around this entire alliance," noted Podeswa.

'GOT' season 7 finale dir. guns down Tyrion-Daenerys-Jon love triangle theory

will throw a monkey wrench into the media company's announced merger with Tribune Media.

More Mixed Messages From Media Stocks

Journalists, authors, scholars, a field scientist, an environmental historian, and others from the US offer scholarly perspectives that apply Abbey's ideas to the post-9/11 era, immigration, the Grand Gulch essay, and the 21st century; discuss Abbey in the context of Alaska, The Monkey Wrench Gang, and Desert Solitaire; and present personal reflections on Abbey from friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, as well as new authors.

Abbey in America: A Philosopher's Legacy in a New Century

He travels to Lake Powell, formed by the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, which obliterated the glorious canyon and spawned the eco-terrorism movement called monkey wrenching (inspired by Abbey's novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang).

Champions of the West

986,419), a combination tool containing a monkey wrench, pipe wrench, screwdriver and a set of thread-cutting dies.

An inventive Mind: john r. morris tackled everything from tools to barns