drive a wedge
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to create division or hostility between people
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
tạo ra sự chia rẽ hoặc thù địch giữa mọi người
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to force a wedge into something
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The controversial policy drove a wedge between the community and local government
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “drive a wedge” mean?
to create division or hostility between people Literally: to force a wedge into something
Is “drive a wedge” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“chia rẽ” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.