monkey wrench
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.29 in modern English
29
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A wrench (spanner) with an adjustable jaw.
noun
An unexpected or troublesome problem, obstacle or dilemma.
Example Sentences
- "Did you ever stop to think whether or not you knew how a monkey wrench should be used?"
- "With a monkey wrench on the hexagonal part of the stuffing box unscrew the stuffing box from the body of the faucet."
- "There were two monkey wrenches for that, sitting in a bucket. Lisa held one wrench and I applied the other and in a few minutes we had removed the motor head and set it on the ground."
- "Professor Miller's careful research has thrown a monkey-wrench into the Einstein wheel, although it has far from discouraged the enthusiastic exponents of Einsteinism."
- "Meanwhile the killer, either knowing for sure or by instinct that the police have incorrectly profiled him, throws monkey wrenches into the task force investigation by changing his modus operandi (MO) for no other reason than to trick the police."
- "It has been suggested that myocilin missense mutations that cause severe disease are monkey wrenches, causing disease through actively causing a problem rather than through a lack of the gene product or function."
Etymology
Already in use, and not unfamiliar among mechanics, by 1832; see discussion and references at Monkey wrench § Etymology and history.
Inflected Forms
monkey wrenches (plural)
monkeywrench (alternative)
monkey-wrench (alternative)
monkey wrenches (present, singular)
monkey wrenching (participle, present)
monkey wrenched (participle, past)
monkey wrenched (past)