Illustration of spanner
- spanner 2
1
chiefly British
: wrench
2
: a wrench that has a hole, projection, or hook at one or both ends of the head for engaging with a corresponding device on the object that is to be turned
Examples of spanner in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Hungary next month assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council, giving Orban an opportunity to throw anti-Ukraine spanners into the bloc’s policymaking process.
—
Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
These were matters of existential importance, on which the United States and Russia had made historic progress, and now PfP’s opponents were, in his view, throwing a spanner into the works by pursuing a form of NATO expansion that Moscow would find far more threatening.
—M. E. Sarotte, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
The delusion is to believe that moral purity and perfection are possessions, that imperfection is shameful, that violence is a spanner in the works, rather than part of the inner portion of everyone.
—Lawrence Jackson, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
European politicians now fear a Magyar spanner in the works.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for spanner 
Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
These were matters of existential importance, on which the United States and Russia had made historic progress, and now PfP’s opponents were, in his view, throwing a spanner into the works by pursuing a form of NATO expansion that Moscow would find far more threatening.
—M. E. Sarotte, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
The delusion is to believe that moral purity and perfection are possessions, that imperfection is shameful, that violence is a spanner in the works, rather than part of the inner portion of everyone.
—Lawrence Jackson, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
European politicians now fear a Magyar spanner in the works.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023
See all Example Sentences for spanner
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spanner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Spanner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spanner. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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spanner
noun
span·ner
ˈspan-ər 
chiefly British
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