The meaning of the word "wedge". What is “knocking down wedges” and “light wedged together”?

Long-standing proverbs, sayings, and phraseologisms can provoke a genuine interest in a particular word in fiction and colloquial speech. Everyone knows such expressions as “drive a wedge”, “knock a wedge”, and what is the basis of them? Despite the similarity of the words in the composition, they describe completely different situations. What is the meaning of the word "wedge"? What can such a concept be expressed in a particular context, as well as in the composition of proverbs and sayings? More on this later in detail.

Value

The word "wedge" (which is possible, will be considered in a number of examples) has up to 12 different shades of meaning. In the dictionaries of Efremova, Ozhegov, Ushakov, Brockhaus and Efron, Dahl, both similar and differing meanings are given. The concept of "wedge" may have the following connotations:

1. General meaning - any object in the form of a pointed and elongated triangle, an acute angle. ( Example : He locked a door with a wedge and froze in anticipation of an answer from a girl.)
2. A work tool in the form of an elongated piece of solid material that tapers gradually or sharply from one edge to another. It has two planes or faces that intersect at an acute angle and form an edge or rib. ( Example : Taking a sharp bar, he inserted it into the crack, like a wedge, and hit it hard with an ax. The driftwood split into two.)
3. The form of building the troops before the attack in order to break through the enemy system. ( Example : A triangle, or wedge, was considered one of the most popular battle formations among German knights.)
4. A military group breaking through the front line of the enemy and infiltrating the location with a narrowly oriented triangle. ( Example : Tank wedges have become a successful weapon for breaking through any system.)
5. A flock of birds. She flies with two straight lines intersecting at the beginning at an acute angle. ( Example : A wedge of cranes evoked nostalgic memories of warm autumn days.)
6. Land allocated for cultivation and cultivation for special crops. ( Example : A sowing wedge of sunflowers makes up a third of the planned crops for 2016.)
7. A fabric flap in the form of an elongated triangle, which is an insert between the clothes. ( Example : Wedges of a skirt fluttering in gusts of dance, emphasizing the romantic image of a girl.)

In addition to these basic meanings, the concept is also associated with jamming, stupor in the head, part of the land, and even the area of ​​the cerebral cortex. A whole series of figurative connotations carry phraseological units with a wedge component. The interpretation of the word is multifaceted, and in everyday speech no more than 3-5 of its meanings are used.

Synonyms

In the dictionary of synonyms of Abramov, you can find the following list: cous, chip, piece, stump, passage, part, segment. You can also pick up the following options: plot, acceleration, gusset, pad, screw and counter-wedge.

Taking into account the various variants of meanings, the list of synonyms expands further: thrashing, spacing, land, reprimand, homestead, sphere, strip, division, bloating, dispersion.

All of them in one context or another can replace the basic concept of "wedge". That such use will be justified confirms the presence of 12 variants of the meaning of the word.

Phraseologisms

The concept characterizes stable turns of speech inherent only to a given language and not amenable to literal translation in most cases. There are the following idiom variants with the word “wedge”: sowing / arable wedge, tax wedge, measuring wedge, optical / photometric wedge, wedge structure. The expression "drive a wedge" is quite popular. The value of phraseology is to quarrel people, to put between them some problem or situation that will divide them in their opinions and lead to disagreements.

Proverbs

Folk art and fiction also abound in proverbs and sayings with the word "wedge." Among them:

1. "Fight fire with fire". The meaning of the proverb is that the result of some action is destroyed or neutralized by the same action that led to the original situation.
2. "Knock down wedges." This means intentionally provoking interest, caring for a representative of the opposite sex.
3. "Light wedged on someone." So they say when a person considers someone or something exceptional, unique to himself.

The tool, the construction of troops, the position of the flock of birds, the geometric figure - these and other meanings of the word "wedge" make it possible to more fully study the concept. Applying it in speech, it is worth focusing on the original definition of “an object of a pointed triangular shape”. The word "wedge" (that such a meaning was applicable, discussed above) is widely used in geography, fashion history, agricultural documentation. Proverbs and phraseologisms make it popular for fiction.