Dictionary.com

Catherine wheel

SEE SYNONYMS FOR Catherine wheel

noun

a firework that revolves on a pin, making a wheel of fire or sparks; pinwheel.
wheel window.

QUIZZES

BECOME A PRO CHEF WITH THIS EXQUISITE CUISINE QUIZ!

Even if you can't be a professional chef, you can at least talk like one with this vocabulary quiz.
Question 1 of 9
You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?
To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.
To stew in a sauce for a long time.
To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Also catharine wheel.

Origin of Catherine wheel

1175–1225; Middle English; named after St. Catherine of Alexandria, from wheel used to torture her

Words nearby Catherine wheel

Catherine of Aragon, Catherine of Braganza, Catherine of Siena, Catherine Parr, Catherine the Great, Catherine wheel, Cather, Willa, catheter, catheter embolus, catheterization, catheterize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for Catherine wheel

Catherine wheel

noun

Also called: pinwheel a type of firework consisting of a powder-filled spiral tube, mounted with a pin through its centre. When lit it rotates quickly, producing a display of sparks and coloured flame
a circular window having ribs radiating from the centre

Word Origin for Catherine wheel

C16: named after St Catherine of Alexandria
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