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paddle wheel

American  

noun

  1. a wheel for propelling a ship, having a number of paddles entering the water more or less perpendicularly.


paddle wheel British  

noun

  1. a large wheel fitted with paddles, turned by an engine to propel a vessel on the water

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of paddle wheel

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The gentle current, kicked up by a creaky paddle wheel, terrifies nobody.

From The New Yorker Oct. 29, 2019

Later, people on Malaske’s boat saw a duck boat passenger “hanging on for dear life” to the paddle wheel of the Belle, he said.

From Seattle Times Jul. 20, 2018

The lake’s water level is so low this year that a paddle wheel tour boat ran aground on a sandbar Aug. 4.

From Washington Times Aug. 19, 2014

A native of Sweden, Mr. Ericsson moved to London and produced one innovation after another, including a screw propeller to replace the paddle wheel on the steam-powered warship.

From New York Times Aug. 8, 2011

In the suffocating cabin, maddened by the vibration of the metal plates and the unbearable stench of the mud stirred up by the paddle wheel, Meme lost track of the days.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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