spanner

  1. Noun.  (British) A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts.
  2. Noun.  (rare) One who, or that which, spans.
  3. Noun.  (weaponry) A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket.
  4. Noun.  (obsolete) A device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam..
  5. Noun.  (UK) A problem, dilemma or obstacle; something unexpected or troublesome (in the phrase ''spanner in the works'').
  6. Noun.  (British, mildly) A stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.