Crossword clues for spanner
spanner
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
spanner \span"ner\ (sp[a^]n"n[~e]r), n.
One who, or that which, spans.
The lock of a fusee or carbine; also, the fusee or carbine itself. [Obs.]
An iron instrument having a jaw to fit a nut or the head of a bolt, and used as a lever to turn it with; a wrench; specifically, a wrench for unscrewing or tightening the couplings of hose. [Chiefly British usage]
pl. A contrivance in some of the earlier steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam.
Inchworm \Inch"worm`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) The larva of any geometrid moth. It progresses forward by first bringing the rear end of the body forward, forming a loop, then moving the front part of the body; called also measuring worm, measuringworm, spanner, and looper. See Geometrid.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1630s, a tool for winding the spring of a wheel-lock firearm, from German Spanner, from spannen (see span (v.)). Meaning "wrench" is from 1790. Figurative phrase spanner in the works attested from 1921 (Wodehouse).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context Australian NZ British Irish English) A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts. 2 (context rare English) One who, or that which, spans. 3 (context weaponry English) A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket. 4 (context obsolete English) A device in early steam engines for moving the valves for the alternate admission and shutting off of the steam. 5 (context UK English) A problem, dilemma or obstacle; something unexpected or troublesome (in the phrase ''spanner in the works'') 6 (context British Irish mildly derogatory English) A stupid or unintelligent person; one prone to making mistakes, especially in language.
WordNet
n. a hand tool that is used to hold or twist a nut or bolt [syn: wrench]
Wikipedia
Spanner was a British journal on non-market socialism.
Spanner is a free program provided by Garmin for PCs running Windows 2000 or XP. It ‘translates’ live positional data from Garmin’s proprietary interface into NMEA 0183. Garmin’s proprietary interface data is only provided via USB whereas NMEA data is provided via serial port. Spanner overcomes this by creating a virtual serial port and thereby allowing a USB based Garmin GPS receiver to ‘speak’ with programs that require NMEA data. For users with Windows 7 and above, GpsGate Client is required.
Spanner is offered as a tool for Garmin’s GPS 18 product, but it works with other Garmin GPS receivers including the GPS 20x, GPSMap 60cx, 76CS, Colorado series (software version 2.51(beta) or later is needed), Oregon series, GPSMap 62/78 series, and Montana Series.
Spanner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
- Anita Spanner (born 1960), Austrian singer Anita
- Chimp Spanner (fl. 2000s), pseudonym of musician Paul Ortiz
- Rudolf Spanner (fl. 1940s), German physician
Category:German-language surnames
Spanner may refer to:
- Spanner (Commonwealth) or wrench (North America), a kind of hand tool
- Adjustable spanner
- Spanner, brand of prostatic stent
- Spanner (database), distributed database technology developed by Google
- Spanner (screw drive), a type of screw drive that consists of two holes in the screw head and two pins on the tool
- Spanner (Garmin program), interface for global-positioning-system receiver
- Spanner (surname)
- Spanner, fictional character in Reborn! cartoons
- Ralph Spanner, a fictional character in Round the Twist
Titled expressive works:
- Spanner (journal), British periodical
- Spanners (album), 1995, by The Black Dog
Spanner is Google's globally distributed NewSQL database. Google describes Spanner as a not pure relational database system because each table must have a primary key column.
The lack of transactions in Bigtable led to frequent complaints from users, so Google made distributed transactions central to Spanner's design. Based on its experience with Bigtable, Google argues that it is better to have application programmers deal with performance problems due to overuse of transactions as bottlenecks arise, rather than always coding around the lack of transactions.
The Google F1 SQL database management system (DBMS) is built on top of Spanner, replacing Google's custom MySQL variant.
Described as a NewSQL platform, Spanner is used internally within Google's infrastructure as part of the Google platform. Spanner uses the Paxos algorithm as part of its operation to shard data across hundreds of datacenters. It makes heavy use of hardware-assisted time synchronization using GPS clocks and atomic clocks to ensure global consistency. Cockroach Labs, a company founded by Google engineers, is working to create an open-source RDBMS for public use.
Usage examples of "spanner".
Wielding torch, pliers, and spanner with practiced hand, she repaired or cut out of circuit the damaged accumulator cells and reunited the ends of each severed power lead.
Spanner Frew fought to bring her nose up, but without both aft parse tubes in operation, he lacked the means to do so.
Everything had a makeshift, knockdown look to it, and when Walker asked Spanner Frew how long the settlement had been there, the shipbuilder advised him that they moved at least every other year to protect themselves.
Sagasta had told him, with fishplate spanners, weaponry, field glasses, twoway radios, and whatever other items she had decided might be of use.
And the discouraged Stires beat, with his spanner, a refrain to his involuntary epigram.
The ceiling was festooned with chamber pots, lavatory seats, Victorian enema pumps, soil-glaze drainpipes, grease traps, earthenware urinals, calking tools, spanners, closet hoppers, faucets, tack moulds, basin wrenches, yarning chisels, a very old thawing steamer, bibcocks, a jerking shank and numerous blowtorches with assorted ends.
He looked across at the wall where some maintenance tools stood, a sledge-hammer, a crowbar, a three-foot fishplate spanner, and welding equipment.
There was a saddlebag with spanner and oilcan, but no clue as to the owner.
Brightening slightly, Anakin took back the device and ran through procedures for accessing a score of miniature utensils, including knife blades, spanners, a luma, and the like.
They jumped out of the lorry and stood chatting excitedly round the bakkie whilst he got a spanner from his cab.
All the more did he admire the officer, who in spite of his tight-fitting full-dress uniform coat, amply befrogged and weighed down by epaulettes, was pursuing his subject with such enthusiasm and, besides talking, was still tightening a screw here and there with a spanner.
Rhys spun his spanner, loosening the wheel-bolts, and glanced up with a shy conspiratorial grin.
Anyway, got chatting to the vicar one night, and come closedown I'd thrown so many spanners into his faith that he had to go off to a monastery in the Hebrides for five years to recover.
He was slightly out of breath and holding a two-footlong adjustable spanner.
Now, confronted with the evidence of diesel mortality, he retrieved his tool box, extracted an adjustable spanner, and began to remove the engine casing.