axle

[ ak-suhl ]

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

/ ˈæksəl /

noun

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

Other Words From

• axled adjective
• un·axled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of axle¹

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of axle¹

C17: from Old Norse öxull; related to German Achse; see axis ¹

Example Sentences

When it encounters slippery conditions, it can lock together the speeds of the front and rear axles, then, with that diff, also the speeds of both wheels on the rear axle.

From Outside Online

This comes from the balanced center of gravity—you’re not too far over the front axle, nor too high or far back.

From Outside Online

It seems certain that without power to distribute through traditional axles that all four wheels of the Hummer EV will be individually suspended.

From Outside Online

Pfau and Colville say that one of the Hummer EV's three motors is located on the front axle, driving the front wheels through a locking differential.

From Outside Online

Remove the front wheelEspecially when a bike has quick-release axles, it’s always a good idea to remove the front wheel and lock it through the main triangle and to a fixed object.

From Popular-Science

When we finally made it into the village, the axle on one of our trucks split in half.

From The Daily Beast

This intricate sequence wrapped us around the axle more than once during design and testing in the years preceding launch.

From The Daily Beast

He starts by tying a cable onto the rear axle of the car, fastening the other end to a post.

From The Daily Beast

The success of the whole structure was extremely sensitive to the size of the axle.

From The Daily Beast

The sensitivity of the wheel-and-axle system to all these factors meant that it could not have been developed in phases, he said.

From The Daily Beast

There must be a fly-wheel, with a notch to carry the rope, and also a small notch wheel on the drum-axle.

From Project Gutenberg

The "reach" went on with the forward axle, and the back wheels spun around, dashed across the road, and smashed into the fence.

From Project Gutenberg

The axle, which is likewise of wood, is never greased, and thus causes the demoniacal kind of music to which I alluded.

From Project Gutenberg

I got that in 1841, through the breaking of my near hind axle as we came down through Guildford town.

From Project Gutenberg

Fig. 36 gives the loads per axle and the distribution of loads in some exceptionally heavy modern British locomotives.

From Project Gutenberg