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spanner

span·nerUK /ˈspænə/noun, verb

spanner is spelled S-P-A-N-N-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (span·ner). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spanner means “A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spanner is spanners.

How many letters and syllables are in spanner?

Letters7: S-P-A-N-N-E-R
Syllables2: span·ner
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is spanner?

Spanner appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce spanner?

  • UK /ˈspænə/
  • UK [ˈspænə] ~ [ˈspanə]
  • British /ˈspanə/

Spanner has 2 syllables, split span·ner in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-spanner.ogg, En-us-spanner.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with spanner?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spanner from its last stressed vowel (/ænə/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of spanner

  • spanners plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • spannering participle, present
  • spannered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does spanner mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    CommonwealthIrelandUKA hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts.

    Pass me that spanner, Jake; there's just one more bolt to screw in.

  2. 2

    CanadaCommonwealthIrelandUKUSAny 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.

  3. 3

    rareOne who, or that which, spans.

  4. 4

    A (usually sparse) graph whose shortest path distances approximate those in a dense graph or other metric space.

  5. 5

    A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket.

  6. 6

    obsoleteA device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.

  7. 7

    IrelandUKA 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.

  8. 8

    IrelandUKderogatoryA stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language.

    You spanner, Rodney! I wanted some time, not a bunch of thyme!

verb

  1. 1

    To use a spanner; to fix with a spanner

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Spanner in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchclef à écrous, clef, clé, serre-écrou, clé de serrage (hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts)
GermanSchraubenschlüssel, Schlüssel (hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts), Knüppel (zwischen den Beinen), Sand (im Getriebe) (something unexpected or troublesome)
Portuguesechave, chave inglesa (hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts)
Spanishllave, llave fija (hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does spanner come from?

From span + -er.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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