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PlainSpell

wedge

/wɛd͡ʒ/noun, verb

wedge is spelled W-E-D-G-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wedge means “One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wedge is wedges.

How many letters and syllables are in wedge?

Letters5: W-E-D-G-E
Syllables1
In writing4.2 times per million words; the 12,578th 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 wedge?

Wedge appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th 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 wedge?

  • US /wɛd͡ʒ/

Wedge has one syllable.

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

What rhymes with wedge?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wedge from its last stressed vowel (/ɛdʒ/):

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 wedge

  • wedges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • wedging participle, present
  • wedged participle, past

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

What does wedge mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering.

    Stick a wedge under the door, will you? It keeps blowing shut.

  2. 2

    A piece (of food, metal, wood etc.) having this shape.

    Can you cut me a wedge of cheese?

  3. 3

    A five-sided polyhedron with a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends.

  4. 4

    A voussoir, one of the wedge-shaped blocks forming an arch or vault.

  5. 5

    Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things.

    Near-synonyms: wedge issue, salami tactics, culture wars

  6. 6

    A type of iron club used for short, high trajectories; a shot made with such a club.

  7. 7

    One of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes, which lift the heel of the foot from the ground.

  8. 8

    USA háček.

  9. 9

    UKThe person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos.

verb

  1. 1

    To support or secure using a wedge.

    I wedged open the window with a screwdriver.

  2. 2

    To force into a narrow gap.

    He had wedged the package between the wall and the back of the sofa.

  3. 3

    To pack (people or animals) together tightly into a mass.

  4. 4

    To work wet clay by cutting or kneading for the purpose of homogenizing the mass and expelling air bubbles.

  5. 5

    informalOf a computer program or system: to get stuck in an unresponsive state.

    My Linux kernel wedged after I installed the latest update.

  6. 6

    To cleave with a wedge.

  7. 7

    To force or drive with a wedge.

  8. 8

    To shape into a wedge.

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

Wedge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcoin, cale (simple machine), part, morceau, quartier (piece of food etc), caler (to support or secure using a wedge)
GermanKeil (simple machine), Stück (piece of food etc), Wedge (type of golf club), einkeilen, klemmen (to force into a narrow gap)
Portuguesecunha (simple machine), fatia (piece of food etc), socar, atochar, enfiar (to force into a narrow gap), sapato anabela (one of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes)
Spanishcuña (simple machine), rebanada triangular (piece of food etc), acuñar (to support or secure using a wedge), formación en V, formación en cuña (flank of cavalry), bandada formada en V (group of birds flying in V formation)

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 wedge come from?

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

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

What to look up after wedge