idle wheel

American  

noun

Machinery.

1. a wheel for transmitting power and motion between a driving and a driven part, either by friction or by means of teeth.

2. idle pulley.

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idle wheel British  

noun

1. Also called: idler.  a gearwheel interposed between two others to transmit torque without changing the direction of rotation to the velocity ratio

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Etymology

Origin of idle wheel

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

idle wheel

Nor were the women idle; wheel and loom were busy as never before.

From Ten Great Events in History by James Johonnot

With one hand holding the idle wheel, he was leaning out to one side, his eyes fixed in a fascinated stare. 

From The Mutiny of the Elsinore by Jack London

It looked exanimate enough, with its idle wheel looming above the black stream dashed with yellow-white spume, and its cluster of sheds sagging under their white load.

From Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Instead of a chain, an intermediate or idle wheel has been tried, but this has not been found advantageous.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884 by Various

They found the pilot, Valdemar Svensen, leaning at his ease against the idle wheel, with his face turned towards the eastern sky.

From Thelma by Marie Corelli