axletree

[ak-suhl-tree]

noun

1. a bar, fixed crosswise under an animal-drawn vehicle, with a rounded spindle at each end upon which a wheel rotates.

axletree

/ ˈæksəlˌtriː /

noun

1. a bar fixed across the underpart of a wagon or carriage that has rounded ends on which the wheels revolve

Word History and Origins

Origin of axletree¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; axle, tree

Example Sentences

‘I had rather hear my mother’s cat mew, or a wheel grate on the axletree, than one of these same metre-ballad-mongers’ chaunt his incondite, retrograde lays, without rhyme and without reason.

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Nine miles from Abbeville our axletree gave way through the hard frost, and we were left to the piercing cold on the side of a hill without shelter.

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Yen translated rapidly, scurrying along behind his sentences like a carriage dog beneath an axletree.

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These sledges had tumbling wheels of solid wood a foot and a half in diameter, revolving with the wooden axletree, and held little more than a wheelbarrow.

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After an old cart or waggon has done its work and is broken up, the wooden axletree, which is very solid, is frequently used for the top bar of a stile.

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