1. A wrench having a hook, hole, or pin at the end for meshing with a related device on another object.
2. Chiefly British. A wrench.

[German, winding tool, from spannen, to stretch, from Middle High German, from Old High German spannan.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.