axletree

American  

[ak-suhl-tree] / ˈæk səlˌtri /

noun

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

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axletree British  

/ ˈæksəlˌtriː /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of axletree

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

Example Sentences

His carriage was overturned, and the axletree broken.

From The Village Notary by E?tv?s, J?zsef

From the forks of the Platte to the valley of the Sacramento, there is not a stick of growing timber that would make a decent axe-helve, much less a substantial axletree.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various

With the Ordinary carriage.—To shift a rear truck, handspikemen lift under the rear axletree.

From Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. 1866. Fourth edition. by United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance

Barely a mile had they traversed, before an ominous crack proclaimed the splitting of an axletree.

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns

They wished even for the corduroy expedient a little farther on, when the line became encumbered with stumps left from the underbrushing, and which caught in the axletree every few score yards.

From Cedar Creek From the Shanty to the Settlement by Walshe, Elizabeth Hely