From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspannerspan‧ner /ˈspænə $ -ər/ noun [countable] British English 1 TZa metal tool that fits over a nut, used for turning the nut to make it tight or to undo it SYN wrench American English2 → put/throw a spanner in the works
Examples from the Corpus
spanner• He could never see an engine without laying a spanner on it.• He didn't fancy the idea of being treated with a spanner if falling ill.• To his surprise, he found the hexagonal spanner on the ledge in the garage where it was meant to be.• I reached into the door pocket and pulled out the heavy wheel nut spanner.• We felt this was an improvement over the rival system of inserting a tommy bar through the collet and using one spanner.• Often this gives just enough friction for the spanners to grip.• Try smearing the spanner jaws with light oil, then dipping them in fine sand.• The spanner in these works is the fact that government is not a profit-making enterprise.Origin spanner (1600-1700) German 