the.com/vise grips
The wrench you grab when you've given up on the right tool existing.
means A locking plier tool that clamps onto something and stays clamped, jaws tightened by a screw until they grip tight enough to twist, turn, or yank without slipping.
from "Vise Grip" started as a trademark — invented by a welder in South Dakota in the early 20th century who got tired of hand tools slipping, and built pliers with a toggle-lock mechanism that clamps like a vise and holds without you squeezing. The brand name worked its way into generic speech the way "Kleenex" and "Band-Aid" did, so now "vise grips" gets used for any locking pliers, trademark or not.
- real name
- locking pliers, officially, since 1924
- inventor
- Danish blacksmith William Petersen, during the Depression
- superpower
- clamps and stays clamped, hands-free
- drawback
- rounds off bolt heads it was never meant for