Definition: wedged

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

wedged
     adj : wedged or packed in together; "an impacted tooth" [syn: impacted]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wedge \Wedge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wedged; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Wedging.]
   1. To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a
      wedge; to rive. ``My heart, as wedged with a sigh, would
      rive in twain.'' --Shak.

   2. To force or drive as a wedge is driven.

            Among the crowd in the abbey where a finger Could
            not be wedged in more.                --Shak.

            He 's just the sort of man to wedge himself into a
            snug berth.                           --Mrs. J. H.
                                                  Ewing.

   3. To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to
      wedge one's way. --Milton.

   4. To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a
      wedge that is driven into something.

            Wedged in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast.
                                                  --Dryden.

   5. To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a
      scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber
      in its place.

   6. (Pottery) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work
      by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc.
      --Tomlinson.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)

wedged

   1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without help.  This is
   different from having crashed.  If the system has crashed, it
   has become totally non-functioning.  If the system is wedged,
   it is trying to do something but cannot make progress; it may
   be capable of doing a few things, but not be fully
   operational.  For example, a process may become wedged if it
   deadlocks with another (but not all instances of wedging are
   deadlocks).  See also gronk, locked up, hosed.  2. Often
   refers to humans suffering misconceptions.  "He's totally
   wedged - he's convinced that he can levitate through
   meditation."  3. [Unix] Specifically used to describe the
   state of a TTY left in a losing state by abort of a
   screen-oriented program or one that has messed with the line
   discipline in some obscure way.

   There is some dispute over the origin of this term.  It is
   usually thought to derive from a common description of
   recto-cranial inversion; however, it may actually have
   originated with older "hot-press" printing technology in which
   physical type elements were locked into type frames with
   wedges driven in by mallets.  Once this had been done, no
   changes in the typesetting for that page could be made.

   [Jargon File]

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

wedged adj. 1. To be stuck, incapable of proceeding without help. This
   is different from having crashed. If the system has crashed, it has
   become totally non-functioning. If the system is wedged, it is trying to
   do something but cannot make progress; it may be capable of doing a few
   things, but not be fully operational. For example, a process may become
   wedged if it deadlocks with another (but not all instances of wedging
   are deadlocks). See also gronk, locked up, hosed, hung (wedged
   is more severe than hung). 2. Often refers to humans suffering
   misconceptions. "He's totally wedged -- he's convinced that he can
   levitate through meditation." 3. [Unix] Specifically used to describe
   the state of a TTY left in a losing state by abort of a screen-oriented
   program or one that has messed with the line discipline in some obscure
   way.

   There is some dispute over the origin of this term. It is usually
   thought to derive from a common description of recto-cranial inversion;
   however, it may actually have originated with older `hot-press' printing
   technology in which physical type elements were locked into type frames
   with wedges driven in by mallets. Once this had been done, no changes in
   the typesetting for that page could be made.