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Synonyms

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.


axle British  
/ ˈæksəl /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing axle

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Thailand axle shaft manufacturer has reduced costs via consolidation of production lines and system optimization, the analyst says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

An obvious solution to that was to recover from the front axle as well as the rear.

From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026

The maneuvering is actually quite smart for a drummy little compact with about 60% of its weight over the front wheels and a torsion-beam rear axle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Developments over the winter had made the new car faster, but introduced what the drivers called a "numbness" to the front axle, which was preventing Norris' ability to exploit the car.

From BBC • Dec. 7, 2025

Try as they would, the rats had not been able to remove a set of wheels and an axle from it.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques