noun
- any of various devices, usually having two jaws that may be brought together or separated by means of a screw, lever, or the like, used to hold an object firmly while work is being done on it.
verb (used with object), vised, vis·ing.
- to hold, press, or squeeze with or as with a vise.
noun, verb (used with object), vi·séed, vi·sé·ing.
- visa.
noun, verb
- US a variant spelling of vice 2
c.1300, “device like a screw or winch for bending a crossbow or catapult,” from Old French vis, viz “screw,” from Latin vitis “vine, tendril of a vine,” literally “that which winds,” from root of viere “to bind, twist” (see withy). The meaning “clamping tool with two jaws closed by a screw” is first recorded c.1500.