axle

American  

[ak-suhl] / ˈæk səl /

noun

1. Machinery. the pin, bar, shaft, or the like, on which or by means of which a wheel or pair of wheels rotates.

2. the spindle at either end of an axletree.

3. an axletree.

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axle British  

/ ˈæksəl /

noun

1. a bar or shaft on which a wheel, pair of wheels, or other rotating member revolves

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Other Word Forms

• axled
  adjective
• unaxled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of axle

before 900; Middle English axel, Old English eaxl shoulder, crossbeam (in eaxle-gespann ); cognate with Old Frisian ax ( e ) le, Old Saxon ahsla, Old High German ahsala shoulder ( German Achsel ), Old Norse ǫxl, Latin āla (< derivative of *akslā )

Explanation

An axle is a rod around which a wheel moves or rotates. The front wheels of your car sit on an axle, turning around it as the car moves. Any kind of vehicle with wheels uses some kind of axle for those wheels to rotate on. Trucks, buses, and cars have axles, and so do lawnmowers and wagons and even bicycles. The original, Middle English word for axle was axle-tree, which came from a combination of the Old Norse word öxull and the Old English eax, both of which mean "axis," or "line around which a body rotates."