Koufax created a vise between his middle finger and the knuckle on his ring finger.—Andy McCullough, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2024 An old squeezing of a Manichaean vise is at work, and during Holy Week that dynamic shows up with rare clarity.—James Carroll, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024 High production and shipping costs, low commodity prices and meat packing monopolies tighten the vise.—Ben Long, The Denver Post, 13 Feb. 2024 Place the hook in the vise with the point facing down.—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2024 Then, lock the tool into a vise or hold it still with a clamp and move a mill file along the edge of the blade to sharpen.—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 May 2023 To the moody strains of Sheik’s alt-rock score, the vise of adolescence is captured in a story about pubescent youths rebelling against the warping will of adult hypocrisy and repression.—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023 Once the vise is closed, retreat and surrender will be the enemy’s only option.—Daniel Ford, WSJ, 10 May 2022 Some voiced confidence that the legal vise on the Russian leader would only grow tighter.—Mark Landler, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023
Verb
Another way is if the appointee wins the special election but not the regular election, or vise versa.—Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 19 Mar. 2024 McDonald’s left leg was vised between two plates of armored steel.—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023 And there are also bench vises with a hefty anvil incorporated into them.—Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 9 Aug. 2023 And that statement includes bench vises that have an anvil built in.—Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 9 Aug. 2023 Still, Joy Ride understands how to get down and dirty, and that the healing power of raunch-coms lies in making the transgressive seem relatable, and vise versa.—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English vys, vice screw, from Anglo-French vyz, from Latin vitis vine — more at withy
Verb (2)
French, past participle of viser to visa, from visa
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