The monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench, a later American development of eighteenth century English coach wrenches. It was popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but is now used only for heavier tasks, having been mostly replaced by the lighter and sleeker shifting adjustable. The term monkey wrench is also used colloquially (and mistakenly) to refer to the pipe wrench, owing to their broadly similar shapes.
Read more about Monkey Wrench: Etymology and History, Charles Moncky Story, Cluedo Token
Famous quotes containing the words monkey and/or wrench:
“I haven’t eaten in three days. I didn’t eat yesterday, I didn’t eat today and I’m not going to eat tomorrow. That makes it three days!”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Arthur Sheekman, Will Johnstone, and Norman Z. McLeod. Chico Marx, Monkey Business, a complaint shipboard stowaway Chico makes to fellow stowaway Groucho Marx (1931)
“I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)