monkey wrench
2
3.0
- noun
- /ˈmʌŋki rɛntʃ/
- US
:
llave inglesa
- He could've snuck into the generator with his monkey wrench.
Examples
-
They start toward him, one with a tire iron and the other with a big monkey wrench.
Fiction book (1999) -
Your monkey wrench, Mr. Newton.
-
- Well, I was, uh- I was hoping that you might let me borrow a monkey wrench from you.
-
He grabbed a monkey wrench from the toolbox to fix the leaky pipe.
-
To tighten the bolt, she used a monkey wrench because of its adjustable jaw.
-
Every mechanic needs a reliable monkey wrench for working on cars.
Synonyms
60
2.5
A hand tool with a shaped opening that grips and turns nuts and bolts
1
3.8
A metal tool with a movable jaw for holding and turning nuts and bolts
1
3.0
A tool with a movable jaw that fits different sizes of nuts and bolts
A tool with a movable jaw that fits nuts and bolts of different sizes
A tool with one movable jaw that you move by turning a screw to hold nuts or bolts
A tool with a V-shaped, toothed jaw for gripping and turning pipes or bolts
How Specialized
- Specialized
1
3.7
- Specialized
- US
2
3.0
- US
1
3.0
- US
60
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
monkey + wrench
The idiomatic meaning 'an unexpected problem' is metaphorically derived from the idea of a wrench (a tool) being thrown into machinery to disrupt it; this gives some clue to disruption but requires inferencing beyond the literal constituents. Because the role of 'monkey' is not transparently related to the obstacle meaning and the phrase relies on a cultural metaphor (compare British 'throw a spanner in the works'), a B1 learner who only knows the individual words may not reliably predict the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Monkey wrench is a tool with one fixed jaw and one adjustable jaw. People say the moving jaw looks like a monkey's mouth grabbing a nut, so the name helps you remember this kind of wrench.