▪ I. spanner1
(ˈspænə(r))
[ad. G. spanner (also spänner, Sw. spännare), f. spannen span v.2]
† 1. An instrument by which the spring in a wheel-lock firearm was spanned or wound up. Obs.
Phillips (ed. Kersey, 1706) has ‘Spanner, the Cock of a Carbine or Fusee’; hence in later Dicts., as Bailey (1721), Johnson (1755), with ‘Lock’ in place of ‘Cock’.
| 1639 R. Ward Animadv. Warre I. 293 A case of good Firelocke Pistolles,..with his Spanner and flaske boxes. 1644 Howell England's Tears for Pres. Wars in Dodona's Grove 169 My Prince his Court is now full of nothing but Buff-Coats, Spanners, and Musket Rests. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xx. (Roxb.) 243/2 The second is called a Spanner; it is a thing made of Iron, haueing a square hole in the bending part of it, by which the springs of wheele locks are wound vp. [1863 W. Thornbury True as Steel II. 29 He then took the spanner..and bent the spring which communicated with the axis-pin of his wheel-lock.] |
2. a. A hand-tool, usually consisting of a small bar of steel, having an opening, grip, or jaw at the end which fits over or clasps the nut of a screw, a bolt, coupling, etc., and turns it or holds it in position; a wrench.
There are several makes of spanner, and they vary greatly in shape and size, some having one opening, others two; some taking one size of nut, etc., others being adjustable to nuts of different sizes.
| 1790 W. H. Marshall Rur. Econ. Midl. II. 443 Spanner, a wrench; a nut screw-driver. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 215 A screw attached to a spanner or lever. 1858 Greener Gunnery 101 Wood carriage complete, with wrought iron screw and spanner for elevating mortar. 1888 Rutley Rock-forming Min. 22 A nut which screws on to the end of the spindle and is tightened up by means of a spanner. |
| attrib. and Comb. 1830 G. R. Ainslie Anglo-French Coinage 66 Two spanner-like towers. 1902 Marshall Metal Tools 69 The small worm shown in the spanner head. |
b. Colloq. phr. to throw a spanner in the works and varr.: to cause disruption, to interfere with the smooth running of something. Cf. monkey-wrench s.v. monkey n. 18 a.
| 1934 Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves xi. 142 He should have had sense enough to see that he was throwing a spanner into the works. 1939 A. Ransome Secret Water i. 18 We can't go. It's all off. The First Lord's chucked a spanner in the works. 1946 D. L. Sayers Unpopular Opinions 111 She was in love with Leicester—why didn't she marry him? Well, for the very same reason that numberless kings have not married their lovers—because it would have thrown a spanner into the wheels of the State machine. 1959 News Chron. 10 July 4/1 Mr. Cousins has thrown a spanner into the Labour Party's works. 1960 R. East Kingston Black ix. 90 My department might be able to throw a spanner into the works—if necessary. 1977 Time Out 17–23 June 5/4 Either way, the 60 workers occupying the factory have put a spanner in the works. |
3. Mech. a. A bar or lever for opening the valves of a steam-engine (see quots.).
| 1773 W. Emerson Mechanics (ed. 3) 230 The horizontal piece h 3, called the spanner; so that moving h back and forward, moves the plate 45 over the hole 2, and back again. 1824 Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 175 Two valves, which are moved alternately by levers acted on on the outside from the revolution of a spanner or lever attached to the hollow axle. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. F 1. 2 Lower down on this spindle..is keyed a duplex spanner or rocking lever 1, one end of which is attached..to the valve rod of the small engine. |
b. In a parallel-motion steam-engine (see quots.).
| 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 306 The lever e is called the Spanner or Lever of Parallel Motion. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 640 Spanner, an important balance in forming the radius of parallel motion in a steam-engine, since it reconciles the curved sweep which the side levers describe with the perpendicular movement of the piston-rod, by means of which they are driven. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as spanner tight a., of a nut: as tight as can be secured manually with a spanner; spanner wrench U.S., a non-adjustable spanner.
| 1925 Morris Owner's Man. 53 The nuts should always be kept (small) spanner tight. 1931 Daily Express 31 Jan. 3/6 Even where the nut was absolutely spanner tight. 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Mar. 20/1 The fuel door..was bolted closed the night before the ship sank, but was found open with a spanner wrench beside it when salvagers examined the sunken vessel. 1969 Publ. Amer. Dial Soc. lii. 35 Spanner wrench,..a wrench having a fixed distance between its jaws which fits on the hose couplings and is used to tighten or loosen connections. |
▪ II. † spanner2 Obs.
(Origin and meaning obscure.)
| 1653 (title), The Total Rout, or a Brief Discovery Of a Pack of Knaves and Drabs, intituled Pimps, Panders, Hectors, Trapans, Nappers, Mobs, and Spanners. |
▪ III. ˈspanner3 rare.
[f. span v.1]
A rib forming part of a roof-span.
| 1862 Macm. Mag. Apr. 527/2 A spanner like the rib of a groined roof springs from each to unite with its antagonist from the other side of the roof-ridge;..similar, but smaller, spanners perform the same office for the aisle roofs. |