How to Use spanner in a Sentence

spanner

noun

• The charges against Luft are just the latest spanner in the works.
  — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 11 July 2023
• But the Covid-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
  — Niharika Sharma, Quartz India, 17 Nov. 2020
• The spanner in the works turns out to be Joy (Colman), drunk and woozy on the back seat of the cab, with a weeks-old infant in tow.
  — Guy Lodge, Variety, 28 July 2022
• Yet the existence of these errors is the fatal spanner in the works of Mitchell's whole case.
  — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 7 July 2014
• However, there is a factor that throws a spanner in the works.
  — David Balaban, Forbes, 11 June 2021
• On Wednesday evening in Doha, Al-Sadd threw a spanner in the works with a blunt statement.
  — Tom Sanderson, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021
• Until the Covid-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works, Giles had been growing from strength to strength.
  — Austa Somvichian-Clausen, Robb Report, 1 Mar. 2023
• However, protests, which began around the same time, threw a spanner in Adani’s gear.
  — Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 28 Nov. 2022
• However, the system itself may have thrown a spanner in the works.
  — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz India, 2 Apr. 2020
• Making these fixes takes more than a spanner or some glue.
  — Solitaire Townsend, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2022
• Iran has also proffered ideas of its own that throw a spanner in the diplomatic works.
  — Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2021
• Everybody got the lockdown, and that really put a spanner in the works.
  — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 6 Feb. 2023
• The government had hoped things would be faster still, only for delays at Pfizer to put a spanner in the works.
  — The Economist, 30 Dec. 2020
• That put a spanner in the works of the recent rally, with the S&P 500 Index posting its worst week since September.
  — Farah Elbahrawy, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2022
• The design has been around for more than 30 years and the rifle comes with a small spanner wrench to assist with takedown and assembly.
  — Richard Mann, Field & Stream, 25 Mar. 2020
• There's only one spanner in the works -- one bridge near the Fenice, the Ponte Vecia Malvasia, will not have a ramp in this first round of construction.
  — Julia Buckley, CNN, 17 Aug. 2021
• The spread of the Covid-19 disease globally could throw a spanner in the works of Indians’ holiday plans.
  — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, 17 Feb. 2020
• The Brits seem to be chafing at their status as an Oscar precursor, though, and they may be tempted to chuck a spanner in the works just for fun.
  — Nate Jones, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2021
• The report claims that monied PSG's interest could be a spanner in the works for Spurs, who will have to offer big to stay competitive in the race for the 22-year-old.
  — SI.com, 22 June 2019
• But a spanner is thrown into the works when the special guest before him, Kirsten Dunst, tells a story that involves the same highlights.
  — Amel Mukhtar, Vogue, 2 Aug. 2022
• Now, the recent spate of deaths could well put another spanner in TikTok’s India works.
  — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, 21 Aug. 2019
• This threw a spanner in the works as far as the theory of human locomotion was concerned.
  — Bill Hatcher, National Geographic, 28 Feb. 2016
• This threw a spanner in the works as far as the theory of human locomotion was concerned.
  — Bill Hatcher, National Geographic, 28 Feb. 2016
• And even if she were ousted, the party membership could throw another spanner in the works during a vote.
  — Karla Adam, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2022
• However, Juventus could wait until the summer and sign Eriksen for free, which may put a spanner in the works.
  — SI.com, 5 Sep. 2019
• The story seemed pretty straightforward, but Henrik Mouritsen threw a spanner in the works.
  — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2012
• This stunt threw a spanner in the works for what had been the strongest couple in the villa thus far (Ella and fellow original islander Tyrique Hyde).
  — Anusha Praturu, Vulture, 7 July 2023
• The other, which is much more likely to throw a spanner in the works, is that Napoli only landed Maksimovic's signature in the summer.
  — SI.com, 12 Oct. 2017
• His loss plus a lack of investment in the playing squad and a few overlapping injuries could throw an industrial-sized spanner in the works.
  — SI.com, 6 Nov. 2019
• The seizure of the Grace 1 threw a spanner in the works, not least because Britain was prodded into action by American intelligence.
  — The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019

Last Updated: 27 Jun 2024