spanner

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spanner

/ˈspænə/ UK
[ˈspænə] ~ [ˈspanə] UK
/ˈspanə/ British, Northern England, Southern
[ˈspanə] British, Northern England, Southern
/ˈspænə/ Australia
[ˈspænə] Australia
[ˈspeːnə] ~ [ˈspɛːnə] Australia
/ˈspɛnə/ New Zealand
[ˈspɛnə] New Zealand
/ˈspænɚ/
[ˈspeə̯nɚ] ~ [ˈspɛə̯nɚ]
/ˈspanəɾ/ Scotland
[ˈspänəɾ] Scotland

Rhymes with -ænə(ɹ)

noun spanners

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts. Pass me that spanner, Jake; there's just one more bolt to screw in.
Similar: wrench
Canada, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, US Any of certain types of such a tool that have a pin or hook to engage the driven object. The groove in this toolholder is what the spanner grabs onto when you are changing the tool.
Similar: wrench
rare One who, or that which, spans. The scheme of the spanner of continents and the desire of the little husbandman hoarding for his loved ones...
A (usually sparse) graph whose shortest path distances approximate those in a dense graph or other metric space.
A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket. The spanner for spanning or winding up the spring of the wheel lock.
obsolete A device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.
Ireland, UK A problem, dilemma or obstacle; something unexpected or troublesome (in the phrase spanner in the works) Halfway through the production of Macbeth, the director found that the stage was smaller than he expected. This really threw a spanner in the works.
Ireland, UK, derogatory, mildly A stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language. You spanner, Rodney! I wanted some time, not a bunch of thyme!

Similar: wrench

verb spanners · spannering · spannered

To use a spanner; to fix with a spanner

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: wrench

Translations

Every language

noun hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts

Español	llave, llave fija
한국어	스패너 seupaeneo, 렌치 renchi
日本語	スパナ supana, レンチ renchi
中文	扳手 bānshǒu, 扳子 bānzi
हिन्दी	पाना pānā
Kiswahili	spana
Português	chave, chave inglesa
Français	clef à écrous, clef, clé, serre-écrou, clé de serrage
Deutsch	Schraubenschlüssel, Schlüssel
Italiano	chiave, chiave inglese, pappagallo
Ελληνικά	κλειδί kleidí
Română	cheie
Русский	ключ ključ
Tiếng Việt	mỏ lết, cờ lê
العربية	مِفْتَاح رَبْط miftāḥ rabṭ
עברית	מַפתֵחַ בְּרָגִים

noun something unexpected or troublesome

Deutsch	Knüppel (zwischen den Beinen), Sand (im Getriebe)

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MLA

"spanner." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spanner. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spanner. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spanner

Chicago

"spanner." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spanner.

BibTeX

@misc{spanner_2026,
  title = {spanner},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spanner},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}