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WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal,...

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 465 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a See also:mass of See also:metal, cognate with Dutch See also:wig, wigge, See also:Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate See also:form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " See also:weight," which must be referred to the See also:root wegh, to li  ft, carry, draw, cf . See also:Lat. vehere, whence " vehicle," &c.), a piece of See also:wood or See also:metal, broad and thick at one end, and inclined to a thin edge or point at the other, used as a means for splitting wood, rocks, &c., of keeping two closely pressing surfaces apart, or generally for exerting pressure in a confined space . The " See also:wedge " has sometimes been classed as one of the See also:simple See also:mechanical See also:powers, but it is properly only an application of the inclined See also:plane . In See also:meteorology, the See also:term " wedge " is used of a narrow See also:area of high pressure between two adjacent cyclonic systems, which takes the See also:form of a wedge or See also:tongue, as do the isobars representing it on a See also:weather-See also:chart . A wedge moves along between the See also:rear of a retreating See also:cyclone and the front of one advancing, and may be regarded as a See also:projection from an anticyclonic See also:system lying to one See also:side of the course of the cyclones . As the See also:crest of the wedge (i.e. the See also:line of highest pressure) passes over any point the See also:wind there changes suddenly from one direction almost to the opposite, while the clearing weather of the retreating cyclone and the temporary See also:fine weather after its passing are quickly succeeded by a break indicating the approach of the following cyclone .

End of Article: WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal, cognate with Dutch wig, wigge, Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " weight," which must be referred to the root wegh, to li
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JOSIAH WEDGWOOD (1730-1795)

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