noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing axle
Automobiles
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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Force and Motion (Mechanics) - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
It's a situation F1 forced on itself by removing the MGU-H, which recovered energy from the turbo and exhaust, and not allowing recovery from the front axle.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The work stoppage imperils GM’s heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as the automaker has limited axle stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Foiling the visual expectations of a lifetime, the four-door’s glass roof joins the car’s sloping rear deck just over the rear axle, omitting a transparent panel of any kind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
An obvious solution to that was to recover from the front axle as well as the rear.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
He applied one single drop to the button, then pressed the gluey button to the axle, sat on his bed, and held it there for what seemed like hours.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
The American Axle plant produces axles for GM’s heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as for its midsize trucks, the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
GM is trying to increase production of its heavy-duty Silverados and Sierras just as the workers who make the axles for those trucks are going on strike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
The engine roar, so critical to Ferraris, can be provided by what the company calls an “external amplification system” that pumps the natural sound of the electric axles out to the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
The Opel Blitz was stuck fast in the deep gravel bed, almost up to its axles.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
It was the wagons that slowed them, lumbering along, axles creaking under the weight of their heavy loads.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
