Wrench

In American English, spanner refers to a specialized wrench with a series of pins or tabs around the circumference.

Higher quality wrenches are typically made from chromium-vanadium alloy tool steels and are often drop-forged.

The word can also be used in slang to describe an unexpected obstacle, for example, "He threw a spanner in the works" (in U.S. English, "monkey wrench").

From German Spanner (n.), from spannen (v.) ("to join, fasten, extend, connect"), from Proto-Germanic *spannan, from PIE root *(s)pen- ("to draw, stretch, spin").

[4] Adjustable coach wrenches for the odd-sized nuts of wagon wheels were manufactured in England and exported to North America in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.