vise
pronunciation
How to pronounce vise in British English:
UK [vaɪs]
How to pronounce vise in American English:
US [vaɪs]
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- Noun:
- a holding device attached to a workbench; has two jaws to hold workpiece firmly in place
Word Origin
- vise (n.)
- early 14c., "a winch, crane," from Anglo-French vice, Old French vis, viz "screw," from Latin vitis "vine, tendril of a vine," literally "that which winds," from root of viere "to bind, twist" (see withy). Also in Middle English, "device like a screw or winch for bending a crossbow or catapult; spiral staircase; the screw of a press; twisted tie for fastening a hood under the chin." The modern meaning "clamping tool with two jaws closed by a screw" is first recorded c. 1500.
Example
- 1. If you got a hammer and a vise .
- 2. And in response to the threat of earthquakes , buildings on the west coast now are designed to sway over shifting foundations , and new highway overpasses are no longer stacked like the jaws of a huge horizontal vise .
- 3. The unpaid bills , with more looming in the future , had placed a vise around our checkbook .
- 4. She felt fear and terror grip her heart like a vise .
- 5. Invert the differential case in the vise .