bobbejaan spanner
South African slang for a monkey wrench — the large adjustable wrench with an open jaw that can be widened or narrowed to grip various nut sizes.
Definitions
South African slang for a monkey wrench — the large adjustable wrench with an open jaw that can be widened or narrowed to grip various nut sizes. The word 'bobbejaan' is Afrikaans for baboon, and the wrench's jaw movement is said to resemble the animal's wide mouth. Widely used in South African workshops, garages, and construction sites, it's one of those cheerfully vivid regional terms that makes toolbox talk more interesting.
He rooted around in the bakkie's toolbox and came up with a rusty bobbejaan spanner just big enough to loosen the stubborn bolt.
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(South Africa) A monkey wrench.
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- face like a bag of spanners63%
A bluntly humorous British insult describing someone as extremely ugly. Spanners (wrenches) are hard, angular, metallic tools that when jumbled in a bag make an irregular, clunking, unappealing mess — an unflattering comparison to a face. The expression is vivid, deliberately over-the-top, and typically delivered with dark wit rather than genuine cruelty. It belongs to a British tradition of colourful insult similes (face like a slapped arse, face like a bulldog chewing a wasp). Mostly informal and usually not said to someone's face.
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(idiomatic, informal, loose, AU, NZ) An open-end adjustable spanner with a worm-drive thumbwheel. When the term adjustable spanner or adjustable wrench is used, this type (branded with any of many brands) is usually the type meant.
- adjustable spanner60%
(British) An adjustable hand tool for tightening and loosening nuts and bolts.
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(especially (British)) a spanner with a ring-shaped jaw with internal serrations which grip onto a nut or bolt.