vise

name

Etymology: English topographic surname, from Old French deviser (“to split, divide”).

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English vis, vys, vice (“screw”), from Anglo-Norman vyz, vice, from Old French vis (“screw”), from Latin vītis f (“vine”). Probably akin to English withe.

1. An instrument consisting of two jaws, closing by a screw, lever, cam, or the like, for holding work, as in filing.

   “Clamp this loop in a strong vise and twist the two ends evenly into one piece. As the twisting progresses, move the wire along so as to keep the grip of the vise close to the hands.”

2. A situation in which one's freedom of choice is constrained.

   “I'd like to know what would become of us in the next ten minutes. They've got us in a vise. We're done for, Gall.”

3. A screw.
4. A spiral staircase.

verb

1. Alternative form of visé.

   “It was the hour in which all who had affairs to arrange with the Austrian ambassador, passports to vise, contracts to sign,were allowed entrance, and it was the baron's duty to receive them.”

   “Although the Department has no wish to remonstrate further than it has already done against the refusal of the Russian authorities to vise passports issued to naturalized citizens of Russian origin, its position is consistent and tenable that a passport issued by the Government of the United States to one of its citizens and intended for his protection in any and all foreign countries which he may choose to visit is not to be in effect destroyed or impaired in value by a Russian consular officer.”